Code Redux
by Moonlitdaze
Summary: We all know the story of Code Lyoko. Five kids. Two worlds. One virus that threatened to destroy us all. But what if it wasn't just a story? What if the person you pass on the street everyday is your chilhood hero? That's exactly the case. I'm Petra Becker, and I'm about to tell you all that REALLY happened in Code Lyoko.
1. The Coffee Shop Part I

** The whole point of this is to give a more mature point of view on the show, as if it were written for teenaged/young adult audience. Now, there won't be anything inappropriate, I'm just saying the tone is going to be a little more mature. Thus, events might be darker. I also wanted to present this was a unique, fresh premise. So... **

** Warning: This goes along with an idea I had a long time ago, playing with this thought: what if the Lyoko Warriors were real, and made the show as a means to tell their story? So, I came up with designs for the "real" Warriors and their "real" stories. In other words, they names will be different, aside from Lyoko, X.A.N.A, and Kadic. **

** ...in other words, your childhood might be ruined. **

** Yes, Laura will be in this, because I like her character design. I'm adding her in a lot earlier, like, this chapter, arguing that she was one of the "real" Warriors who didn't want to be in the show, but changed her mind in time for Evolution to air. I won't have her got to Lyoko for awhile, if at all, until I see a Lyoko form on Evolution, so, I'll have her be like a second Jeremie, which I think, based on her bio, she is going to end up being, anyway. I read the summary of one of the episodes, where Odd has a "contact" that has downloaded, illegally, the latest video game. I hypothesize this could be Laura, so I might her slightly like an evil-ish genius. And, if I'm not right? Oh well. Part of these "real" Lyoko Warriors is so that I can take a few artistic liberties. Hope y'all don't mind that much. **

** Also, as far as narration is concerned, the opening and closing sections of each chapter will be first person present point of view (which I've never done before, so let me know how it is), in the eyes of Petra, but the actual story is going to be third person and the traditional past tense. I'm really pumped for this, hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Also, it will be slightly interactive, so Petra actually might respond to your reviews. But we'll see how that goes ;) **

** Don't worry, I'm nice and provide and character guide at the very bottom of this chapter, if you should need it. Just scroll down to the end, and you'll find it in bold print, right before my closing author's remarks. If a character is not listed, that means he/she is an OC. Also, it's just the characters that were introduced in the chapter. So Yumi and Jimbo are coming, I promise! I love them both too much to cut them. **

** Oh, yes. And I don't own Code Lyoko, though that's kind of an obvious one, there. **

**EDIT: Got rid of the prologue, because it doesn't fit the story. **

_Chapter One- The Coffee Shop Part I_

When I first begin to type, I hesitate. Should I really write this? Is this really what I want. Our full story, told with no censors?

Then, I think of little Noelle, my toddler daughter for whom I was writing this, and it solidifies my need to continue on. The Warriors and I had agreed not to keep our Lyoko life a secret from our children, present or future, but we all differed as to what degree of the truth they would receive. That was why Quince -well, a Lyoko fan would know him as Odd- devised the show. He wanted a way to tell his kids of the "Lyoko Warriors" in a watered down way that would make it fun for them, and would shield them from the true danger we went through, the amount of occurrences that almost took our lives. And he did a great job with the show, too, but I _wish _X.A.N.A attacks would have been that easy. Jerome and Adette (or as the Lyoko fan would know them, Jeremie and Aelita) had decided to show their kids Code Lyoko, but on each child's sixteenth birthday, tell them the whole story. Kiyomi and Viktor (a.k.a Ulrich and Yumi) and Graham (William) and his wife had all agreed to just keep their kids in the dark until the children turned eighteen. Sure, they'd be allowed to _watch _Code Lyoko, but, if their parents got their way, would be none the wiser to the truth of the show until legal adulthood. I, on the other hand, wanted my kids to know the whole truth, right off the bat. One might infer my blunt nature from the prologue I had just typed, I suppose (I am looking at you, hacker). But it didn't matter to me. I wanted any child of my to be ready, to know what to do and how to do it, should any similar threat come about again, or should the Men in Black try to take any of them. So, I'd opted for my _own _artistic rendition of "Code Lyoko," a simple third-person prose that, if I had left out these introductory chapter beginning and the prologue would just seem like a harmless sci-fi work. "'If only, if only,' the woodpecker sighs."

But no, everything I have thus far written, and everything that follows, is what _really _happened in "Lyoko," which I will state now_ was_ actually named Lyoko, for those who are curious. And my child deserves to know it. So, I take a long sip of my coffee, begin to type, and let myself travel back to my first trip to the very coffee shop where I am, and to my first trip there, years and years ago...

_CR_

Six students of Kadic Academy International Boarding School sat at a small café table, starting at each other blankly and gripping their respective cups of steaming coffee (or tea, in some cases). They knew so little of each other at that very moment, but they had been bound together by something immense, linking them together like an iron chain. Though it had only existed for a matter of days, their friendship was already among the deepest the world had ever known. Each member of the table couldn't say how much they _liked _the person seated next to him, but he could attest to the depth of deep care and compassion. Each was willing to die for any other member of that strange group sitting there.

This isn't a story about one hero or heroine and a journey of self-discovery; this story isn't even about acts of heroism, thought that is what a reader will find among these printed words. In all actuality, this story, at its heart, is about one single friendship that doomed, saved, and, eventually, changed the world. And yet, this story in all its beauty has never been told to the world, at least in its true form. This simple little group, which would wax and wane, be added to and subtracted from over the time expanse of this narrative, was virtually unknown. Is still virtually unknown. Some of them subtly announced their deeds, through the guise of fiction, but a select few, those who felt their lives the most uprooted, decided to remain in anonymity, a time of hiding that, until now, has gone interrupted.

There were lots of perceptions about the children in that little café. They came from all different walks of life: a "nerd," a loner, a hacker, a new kid, a sci-fi writer, and a jock. They didn't look like friends, all with multifarious mannerisms and styles of dress, but a passerby wouldn't think it such a crime that this friendship was formed. There could have been a number of theories about why the group had decided to meet at that little coffee shop, and why, in the following years, their friendship lasted even to adulthood. And there were theories, lots of them. But no one, not even Sherlock Holmes himself, could have deduced the truth behind this unlikely clique.

Under all the plot progression, secrets, scandals, lies, and fights that the coming years would bring to these kids, many things about the beginning of it all would become muddled. But one thing would remain clear, and would always remain clear. And that fact is this: it all started with Jerome Bellamy.

There were lots of rumors around Kadic Academy International school about Jerome Bellamy. He had come second semester his seventh grade year, and had made not one friend, thus no one, at the start, really knew his origin. He was a genius, prodigious in computers and mathematics especially, but Kadic wasn't exactly a school for geniuses, so some people wondered why his parents chose such an institution to send their son. There was a wide variety of theories, but, Jerome was a recluse type of person, and no one ever felt to desire to approach him to ask. But Jerome, despite his hermit-like qualities, did really wish for companionship. It was a life-long battle, one that sent him from school to school. His brain set him apart from his peers, and no human being, not even his parents, seemed to get him. Jerome, of course, couldn't understand why he was so misunderstood. He didn't quite get why most people weren't interested in computers, math, and science, and he couldn't understand why people made fun of him for being interested.

Still, despite this understanding, he had a basic human desire for a friend, as most of us do. But, he made friends of a different kind. His friends were his inventions, and he'd learned to be content with that. And, it was his inhuman friends that lead him, indirectly, to his first human ones. It was late one night, a Saturday, one of the days students were permitted off campus, and he was searching for scrap metal to building his newest invention, a robot to enter into the school's robotics tournament. That night, his search brought him to an abandoned factory, not far from Kadic's campus, where the story truly began, that fateful October 9th of Jerome's eight grade year.

As he walked across the bridge towards this slightly gloomy structure, he carried with him a sketch of his robot in his pocket, but had no inclination that his find would rock the world without the world ever realizing it was being rocked. He almost turned back once, when he realized the stairs leading from the catwalk to the factory floor had been long gone, leaving the only means for getting to his destination a group of rusty chains dangling from the ceiling. In future years, Jerome and the friends that this endeavor had made him wondered what life would have been like if he _had _decided to go back that night. But, the outcome of that choice had become such a part of him, that he could not imagine life any other way. No matter what, no matter how much danger his life was in after that night, he couldn't bring himself to regret as he looked back even a single shaky step towards the freight elevator.

He'd ridden it to the lowest floor possible, figuring he'd start his search from the ground floor up, but what he found was more than he bargained for. When the elevator doors opened, they revealed a small, dark little room. It was a rather unremarkable sight, except there was a strangely placed button on the wall, which, for curiosity's sake, he pushed. A low humming and groaning creaked throughout the room, making Jerome jump back several feet just as a massive and dormant supercalculator rose up from the floor. With it came many questions, but Jerome decided to pocket all those ideas, given the lateness of the hour. But, as he took another step towards the elevator, he paused, taking a peak over his shoulder at the massive machine he'd found. Jerome had always been obsessed with technology, finding what made a machine tick, how to make it work and how to manipulate it. The questions and possibilities this discovery was couple with were all too great for Jerome to put off. So, in a rush of bravery, he rushed forward, and threw the switch.

The supercomputer roared to life, with enough force and light to make Jerome stumble back a foot, but his brain was already at work. He spotted a small ladder in the back of the room, leading, probably, to the floor above. He climbed up, finding himself in a lab of sorts, where the computer's three-screen monitor was set up. A swivel chair rested on a track right before the computer, giving the seat the ability to glide about the room. A large half-sphere was projecting a holographic image that declared, _' Waiting for Lyoko Data.'_

Jerome had to admit, he was pretty timid. It was as if he were foreshadowing what that simple flip of a switch had done to and for his future. Still, his fingers twitched, itching to fly across the keyboard in order to probe the mainframe. His inner hacker overrode his inner coward, and he hopped right into the chair, starting, his brown eyes wide behind his glasses, as a loading menu popped onto the screen. He wasn't sure what he expected. Perhaps, the controls for the factory itself or a database of the factory's functions and workers. But, what did appear on his screen- well, Jerome never in a million years would have guessed it.

A window popped open and a pair of green eyes was suddenly starting back at Jerome. The blonde genius choke a bit, seeing the digital image of a young girl, starting at him and looking genuinely confused and genuinely alive. "W-who are you?" she inquired, which made Jerome speechless. "And where am I?"

"I- I- " Jerome stuttered, his words lost somewhere between her soft emerald eyes and her odd rosy, colored hair. Coughing, he squeaked out, "I'm Jerome Bellamy. And it looks like you're inside the supercomputer. Do you have a name?"

The girl shook her head, her face falling. "I don't think so."

"Well, I have to call you _something_," he said."Do you like Maya?" He blushed. "I've always liked that name."

"Yes, yes. Maya sounds nice," she grinned, making Jerome turn an even deeper shade of red. He was so engaged in talking to her, that an hour went by without a realization he was talking to a digital girl, probably some form of A.I, trapped in a strange supercomputer of unknown origin. He didn't come back to reality until his watch beeped, telling him it was curfew time. "Oh," he frowned. "I have to get back. But, I'll come here tomorrow, around the same time. Okay?"

"Okay," Maya said with a nod. "Goodbye, Jerome."

The young genius decided to help Maya discover her origins by learning more about the supercomputer. He also decided, if he were going to do so, he'd need an ally, given the complexity of this programming. But, given his friendless status, he was left in a difficult spot and an awkward situation for him. It meant reaching out to a student body he, despite being part of for quite some time now, had never gotten to know. And he would find his accomplice in someone who would never dream of collaborating with him.

Of all the people who did not like Jerome, Loraine Guillory thought herself the most justified in her dislike. She, too, was skilled with computers, in every way that Jerome was, which put the too at odds. It wasn't so much that her skills were inferior, it was _how_ she used them. While Jerome had plans to do great things with his programming skills, Loraine's visions went little beyond using her gift for personal gain: hacking the school database to boost a grade here and there, to get the latest video game before it came out, or to watch the newest movie before it hit theaters. No one ever knew Loraine did all this- she was exceptional at not getting caught- so no one really knew how good Loraine was with computer sciences. Except, of course, the silently observing Jerome, who knew everyone of her secrets and talents, with Loraine none the wiser to the silent spy.

Needless to say, when Jerome asked for her help one day in their computer class, she was surprised in more ways than one. "You want_ my_ help?" she asked, half innocently, half snidely.

"I have a project that might interest you," Jerome mumbled, without making eye contact. "But, you might have to break school rules to do so."

Loraine raised an eyebrow. She had to admit, she didn't take Bellamy as that type of kid. "I might have some interest. But what makes you think that a model student like myself would agree to do something so rebellious?"

"The A you got in gym last semester, when you should have gotten that high B."

Loraine frowned deeply, folding her arms across his chest. The socially awkward Jerome Bellamy was a little more clever than his reputation gave him credit for. "Alright, what've you got for me?"

"Not here," Jerome shook his head. "Tonight. The abandoned factory just beyond town. You know it?"

"Of course I do."

And thus Loraine Guillory got herself thrown into the mix, too.

That night, she left her roommate behind in their dorm. Loraine had trekked from the school, all the way to the factory. Jerome had given her instructions to a sewer entrance in the on-campus park, which eventually became a shortcut to the factory. A few times, the young hacker paused, swearing she heard footsteps behind her, but she would shake her head at her own paranoia and walk on. Eventually, she came to the factory, pausing for a minute outside to stare at the structure as she adjusted the strap of her laptop bag. "Here goes nothing," she said, walking on.

Jerome told her to ride the elevator one floor down, so she obeyed the instructions. Jerome, despite himself, had to smirk at her reaction to the lab and to Maya. "What _is _all this," Loraine exclaimed, spinning around to get a better look at the lab.

Jerome sighed, turning in his chair to face her. "That's kind of why I brought you here," he shrugged. "I don't really have a clue myself."

"And what's that?" Loraine asked, stepping closer and pointing to Maya's window.

"_She_ is an artificial intelligence inside the computer," Jerome explained. "I promised her answers, but figuring out this supercomputer is a job too big for one person. You're the only one I know with enough skill to do this. I need your help. Will you?"

"It could be dangerous," Loraine said, rocking back on her heels.

"Well, yeah-"

"Which means I'm all over it!" Her face broke out into a large smirk. "Here, move over! Let me have a look."

"Wait, Loraine!" The voice from the shadows made Loraine and Jerome stiffen, and Petra Becker, Loraine's roommate, stepped into the light. Her eyebrows were raised and her arms were folded as she gave the pair of blonde geniuses an accusatory stare. "We don't know what's going on here. I mean, a supercomputer in the basement of an abandoned factory? This is way beyond you. Beyond anyone our age."

"What are you going to do?" Loraine challenged. "Tell on us?"

"No," Petra grinned. "I want in. I'm so tired of _writing _about science fiction adventures. It's time to live one!"

"Are you any good with computers?" Jerome asked, skeptically.

"I can type a Word document and make a PowerPoint presentation, if that's what you mean."

"We're going to be dealing with stuff a little more complex. I don't know if- "

"Oh, come on, Bellamy!" Loraine pleaded. "She _is _my friend. We can trust her."

"Fine," Jerome sighed, turning back to the computer, "she can stay." He put on a headset as he focused his attentions on Maya. "We have two new friends. Meet Petra and Loraine."

The two girls crowded behind to the chair to see the digital girl on the screen. "Hello," Maya replied. "Nice to meet you both."

"Awfully personal for an artificial intelligence," Loraine mused.

"That's why I promised her answers," Jerome said, with a nod.

"Well, let's see what this puppy has under the hood, then," Loraine said, cracking her knuckles.

"What about that?" Petra asked, pointing to an little flashing icon in the corner, declaring, _'Display Lyoko data.'_

"Petra, we can just push any button we- " Jerome started.

"Works for me!" Loraine said, shouldering Jerome aside to click the icon. The holographic projection in the middle of the room flashed, suddenly displaying a 3D map of a whole other world. It had four land-based sectors, an ocean of sorts appearing to run under then, and a spherical core in the center.

"Lyoko ?" Petra guessed.

"Jerome? What's going on?" Maya asked, obviously feeling a little left out of the festivities.

"There- there appears to be a whole world inside the computer, Maya," Jerome stuttered. "You said you're in some kind of tower-like structure now?"

"Yes, Jerome," Maya agreed.

"Try and see if there's a way out," he advised. "It looks like there's a whole ecosystem out there."

"I don't see any doors," Maya mused, "but looking around won't hurt." The window closed, only to reopen a moment later on a bewildered Maya. "It's amazing, Jerome!" she gasped. "I can enter and exit the tower just by phasing through the walls! There's a whole forest out there!"

"Can you send us a visual?" Loraine asked, sounding intrigued. She kept glancing from Maya to the digital map.

"I'll try," Maya agreed, a window from her point of view opening as response. Through the girl's deep green eyes, Jerome, Petra, and Loraine saw floating forest exploding around Maya. Thin deep brown trees rose way up high into the pale green sky, and moss grew all over the terrain, even hanging from the sides of the platform.

"Looks kind of like a video game set," Petra said, with a shrug. As soon as she said this, a squadron of four little creatures that resembled overgrown roaches scuttled onto the scene.

"Jerome, are you seeing this?" Maya asked, her voice a little wary.

"Amazing!" Jerome interjected. "This world has an entire ecosystem, with flora and fauna alike. Maya, do you think you can get close?"

"I think I- _ah!" _The girl's scream made all of them tense, and the visual window again disappeared. The trio held their breathes for a few excruciating moments before Maya again reappeared, looking panicked. "They attacked when I tried to approach; fired at me with lasers!" she shook her head. "I ran to the tower, and for some reason they didn't follow me in. I don't think they can."

"We'll have to look into it," Jerome said. "But, for now, I'd advise staying in the tower until we can do more research." Jerome turned to Petra. "Loraine and I are probably going to experiment with some programs. You're welcome to stay if you want, but- "

"No, that's okay," Petra stretched. "Loraine can give me the reader's digest version in the morning. I should be heading back to the Academy. Early morning."

"Why?" Jerome asked.

"Showing a new kid around school. Welcome committee duty," Petra shrugged, before heading back towards the elevator.

_CR_

The next morning, Petra thought she had dreamed up the events at the factory, but the first words Loraine said to her that morning were, "Debriefing after school on what happened after you left. Okay?"

"Okay," Petra yawned, still half in a daze, just as Loraine slipped out of the room. "Someone's in a hurry," Petra muttered, standing up and going over to her closet. As she pulled out a deep blue turtle neck a black skirt, grey leggings, black boots, and her signature black beanie, she mentally tired to remember the last time she and Loraine had eaten a meal together. The answer was a long, long time ago, when the two were first assigned as roommates. While it was true Petra and Loraine had been friends for quite some time, they typically ran in different circles during the school day. They only spent time together afterhours. As Petra dressed herself, she wondered how much of that would change, now that they were bound by the secret of the supercomputer, Lyoko , and Maya.

Petra didn't have time to question this, though, for she had obligations. As a member of the welcome committee at Kadic, she'd been asked to show a new student, Quince Della-Penna, around on or at least to his new roommate. She was expected in the admin building across campus before breakfast. Thus, after she finished getting ready, Petra scampered to the elevators, rode it down the lobby (a popular hangout during non-school hours), and hurried across the school courtyard to the administration offices. When Petra arrived at Principle Chevalier's office, the door was closed, but the secretary waved Petra over.

"Mr. Chevalier will be out in just a moment. He's just finishing up. You're welcome to sit over there if you want," the older woman pointed with her pen to a bench outside the office.

"Thank you, ma'am," Petra said, letting her eyes wander about the room. Every where the girl turned, the face of Marceline "Marci" Chevalier, the principal's daughter, flashed eyes at Petra. Marci and Petra had never been on friendly terms, which was normal. Like every school, Kadic had its mean girls and Marci and her best friend Kitti Baldwin (they were very proud of the fact that both their nicknames ended in 'i') filled those roles at Kadic.

"Alright, Mr. Della-Penna," the voice of Mr. Chevalier pulled Petra out of her daze and the redhead snapped up, meeting the gaze of her new charge. "This is Petra Becker, your student ambassador for the day. She's here to answer any of your questions."

"Hello," Petra said, extending her hand. "Nice to meet you, Quince."

"Oh, you can call me Q, like Q-branch in 007." The boy grinned, a smile that was as gaudy as his brightly colored clothing and the splotch of purple dye in his long blonde hair.

"Oh, well. Okay, Q."

"I'll leave you to it then, Miss Becker," Mr. Chevalier said. "Good luck, Mr. Della-Penna."

"Well, if you'll show me your schedule and dorm and locker assignments, we can get started," Petra said, once the principal had retreated back into his office.

"Oh. Yeah. Here," Quince said, holding out a wrinkled piece of paper, with chibi doodles of Mr. Chevalier all over it. "Sorry it's so wrinkled. Can't keep my hands still for very long, and Mr. C's speech was getting kind of long-winded."

"Uh, that's okay. They're really good drawings."

"Thanks," Quince shrugged. "I'll have to show you my sketchbook sometime," he wriggled his eyebrows up and down, making Petra raised hers.

"Right, so it looks like you're rooming with Viktor Faust," Petra said, clearing her throat.

"Viktor Faust?" Quince repeated, turning the name over on his tongue.

"He's the star striker on our football team," Petra explained. "Kind of popular, especially with the girls, but a real quiet type. You won't even know he's there, most of the time."

"Well, cool!"

"And, the three of us have the same first class. I'll introduce you, then. But first, I'll show you to the cafeteria so we can have some breakfast."

"Yay, food!" Quince exclaimed, as they headed out of the office.

_CR_

"Hey, Viktor?" Petra inquired, in an attempted to get the attention of the brunette in front of her.

"Hmm?" the athlete looked up from his textbook.

"Well, this is Quince Della-Penna," Petra said, gesturing her charge. "He's been assigned as your roommate."

"I didn't know about this," Viktor said, with a deep frown.

"Well, you do now!" Quince grinned, plopping into a seat beside the brunette boy. "Don't worry. I'm totally cool. We'll get along great!"

Viktor looked at the girl for help, who only shrugged before wild gesturing caught her eye. She saw Loraine and Jerome gesturing to an empty seat beside them, in the back corner of the room. "Will you be okay during this period, Quince?"

"Sure," he nodded.

"Well, I'll meet you at the ending bell to walk you to second."

"Nah," Quince waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "I'm sure Viktor can help, right?"

"Uh- " Viktor said, but the bell's ring cut him off.

"Alright," Mrs. Hurst, Kadic's science teacher, strode in, her voice echoing sharply against the walls. "Take your seats; we have a lot to cover today!"

The class snailed by at the usual pace, and Quince slipped out with Viktor after the period ended, so Petra lost track of the new boy during the course of the day. Now free from obligation, Petra was able to talk with Loraine and Jerome after classes let out.

"Well, Lyoko is amazing!" Jerome said, as the trio sat underneath a shady oak in the courtyard. "It has three others sectors in addition to the forest- a mountain range, a desert, and a frozen tundra- and there are thirty-nine more 'towers' aside from the one Maya was it. Forty in all. They all connect somehow, and Maya has figured out a way to use them to get from sector to sector. They're like data ports so, in theory, in one wanted to extract data from Lyoko , he could- "

"Just tell her already," Loraine said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, Loraine and I found a room, full of cylindrical cabins. Scanners. According to the supercomputer logs, they have the ability to send things to- and from Lyoko ."

"And?" Petra said.

"Well, all the towers on Lyoko , according to Maya, have a blue aura. Except one, in the polar region. That one is red. We think it might be the key to- to maybe brining Maya to earth, with us," Jerome looked down at his feet, obviously a little more than embarrassed. He, after all, was supposed to be a genius, to always think logically. Bringing a computer program to earth didn't fall under the "logical" category.

"Loraine?" Petra asked, looking to the other brainiac for guidance.

"Ah, I don't know," Loraine said, with a shrug. "If it doesn't work, it doesn't work, but it's at least worth a shot, I guess."

"Well, I'm game. Not that I'll be much help," Petra said.

"Let's get some coffee, guys," Jerome said, standing. "Then I want to call Maya."

With that, the trio headed over to the vending machine pavilion. Petra noticed Quince hanging around drinking a cup of coffee, talking poor Viktor's ear off. As Jerome went inside to get his drink, Petra paused to talk to them. "Well, there you are!" she said. "I was worried you got lost!"

"Nah," Quince said, playfully punching a fuming Viktor in the arm. "Vik here is a great guide! He have the same schedule, too. Pretty cool, huh? He and I are getting to be very good buddies."

Viktor opened his mouth to say something, when Jerome's sudden scream paused their conversation, and they looked over to see Jerome pass out.

"What happened?" Petra asked Loraine, who appeared to have seen the whole thing.

"The vending machine. It- it shocked him!" the hacker declared.

"Quince and I will take him to the infirmary. Petra, you go tell the principal what happened. And, Loraine, stay behind and warn people he try to use the machine what happened. Don't want it to happen to anyone else."

"Right," the group chorused, heading off in their respective directions.

When Petra burst into the admin building, she bumped into Kitti and Marci, who had apparently been visiting Marci's father during the break. "Watch it, Becker!" Marci shrilled. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"If you must know, my friend got shocked by the vending machine," Petra said, a part of her thinking of how weird that sounded out loud. "I'm here to warn your father, so it can get taken care of."

"The school just did a maintenance check on those things," Marci said, suspiciously.

"It happens," Petra said, with a shrug, as she skirted around the pair. After her talk with the principal, Petra headed to the infirmary to check on her friend. Apparently, it was nothing serious, but it did have a few burns on his hand, which Valentina, the nurse, had put medicine on and bandaged.

"Where are Faust and Della-Penna?" Petra asked, dropping her book bag and dragging a chair up by the bed.

"Viktor had to get to martial arts class in the gym, and Quince- well, I don't know about Quince," Jerome clarified.

"The school has a martial arts class?"

"Apparently," Loraine said, with a shrug.

"How long are you in here for?" Petra asked.

"Should be before dinner, once Valentina clears it with my parents. In the meantime, I'm gonna call Maya, she what she has for us on the red tower. She said she would do some exploration today, while we were in class."

"Alright," Loraine said. "Meanwhile, Pets and I are headed over to the library to work on our research paper's for Hurst's class. You _do _remember we have that, right?"

"Yeah. Report on an animal. We're going on a field trip to the zoo soon to do 'first hand' research, ect," Jerome waved his non-injured hand dismissively.

"Okay. Well, see you at dinner, then," Loraine said, shouldering her laptop bag. "Come on, Petra."

_CR_

"Ugh," Petra whined.

"What?" Loraine asked, looking away from her laptop to look at Petra, who was working on a library computer.

"This computer keeps acting up," Petra complained.

"Here, let me see," Loraine said, getting up and looking over her friend's computer. Just as Loraine arrived, a strange logo flashed on the screen. It look like a combination of a target and an eye, with one spoke poking from the top of the emblem, and three from the bottom. But, before either girl had a chance to question it much, the computer killed, in a shower of sparks and smoke. Loraine and Petra shrieked, earning a reprimand from the librarian as she rushed over.

"Well, the old thing was bound to die soon, anyway," the elderly woman sighed. "At least maybe now the school can get a new one. I'll call Principal Chevalier."

"Well, that was a bust," Petra sighed, falling into her seat. She tensed when her phone buzzed in her pocket, signaling a text.

'_From: From Jerome Bellamy_

_ Maya and I made a breakthrough. Come by my dorm for a debriefing.'_

Loraine's phone buzzed with the same text, and the girls nodded collecting their stuff and heading for the boy's dormitories. They found their friend at his desk, already in a conversation with Maya.

"Good," the boy said, turning in his chair. "You're here."

"Yep. So what's it all about?"

"Maya, do you want to tell them?" Jerome asked.

_"Well," _the digital pinkette said, _"earlier I attempted to get close to the red tower, but there were more creatures guarding it. Big, red ones this time. When I even got moderately close, they fired."_

"Looks like not all the natives are friendly," Petra joked.

"Exactly," Jerome said, standing up. He took off his glasses to polish them. "But, I've come up with a solution." He walked over to his wardrobe, and opened it, gesturing for the girls to look inside.

"Whoa," Loraine said.

"You know, most people keep clothes in there, right?" Petra said.

Inside, Jeremie had several of Jerome's old robots, all neatly and carefully arranged in boxes. "They're programmed to be domestic assistants," Jerome explained. "But, with a little tweaking, they could be made combat ready. We can send them to Lyoko, to help Maya get to the red tower."

"Question," Petra raised her hand.

"Yes?" Jerome asked.

"If the scanners can send things to Lyoko, why go through all the trouble to build those robots? We can't _we _go?" She gestured to the three of them.

"No, it's too dangerous." Jerome shook his head. "We don't know what will happen if we use the scanners. It's better to test it out on robots than on ourselves."

"I concur." Loraine nodded.

"You're both party poopers," Petra sighed. "Maya, tell them they're being party poopers."

_"I'm sorry, Petra, but I agree with Jerome," _Maya shook her head. _"We know so little about Lyoko. It's best not to take risks until we do."_

"Fine, but- " Petra never got to finish her sentence, for suddenly, the robots came alive, and started to attack the congregated trio. Loraine hopped up on the bed and Petra scrambled onto the desk, throwing her shoe uselessly at their adversaries, but poor Jerome couldn't get away in time. Luckily, the door opened, and Viktor Faust burst in, just in time to save the day. The robots turned their attention towards him, and it one that tried to trifle with the athlete got kicked and smashed up against the wall. Luckily, Maya had made herself scare, so she want unseen.

"Your friends are a little aggressive," Viktor commented. "You might want to check their settings."

"You call _that_ domestic robotics?" Loraine hopped off the bed. "We could've been killed, Jerome!"

"I had nothing to do with that!" Jerome protested.

"Right. You only built them," Petra said, sliding off the desk and grabbing her shoe. "And to think you wanted to make them _more _aggressive before sending them to Lyok- oh." Petra glanced at Viktor, before glancing back at her feet.

"Lyoko?" he asked.

"Nothing," Jerome answered, a little too quickly.

"Come on, you can tell me. I mean, it looks like you need me, anyway. What if you one you gets suddenly attacked by a hairdryer, and I'm not around?"

"Funny," Loraine said, sarcastically.

"Alright. Let me rephrase," Viktor folded his arms. "I'm not leaving from this spot until I hear an explanation.

Loraine, Petra, and Jerome looked at each other, sharing a silent nod. Jerome went over and closed the door. "Alright," he said. "But first, we need to know. Can you keep a secret?"

_CR_

I sit back a bit after typing those last words, noticing the time on my laptop. I had always marveled how Quince, the secret mastermind behind Code Lyoko, had managed to condense those events into only two episodes, when I saw how much wordage just a fraction took. But, we had come together under such odd (no pun indented) circumstances, as our friendship was both unlikely and unorthodox.

I scroll up and down the document, smiling at the innocence of those days before X.A.N.A, and Loraine's name catches my eye. Yes, an avid Code Lyoko fan might be very surprised to find she was so involved so early. But, I can assure you, despite what Code Lyoko Evolution tells you, "Laura" was one of the originals. Actually, the first of us outside of Jerome. But, much like the rest of us, Laura went through a lot in the X.A.N.A. years, and it was particularly rough for her. When Quince approached us with the idea of the show, Loraine had specially asked not to be included, along with me, and others, who we will get to. I was surprised she changed her mind for the fifth season, but Loraine has recovered much in the years since Code Lyoko first aired. In a way, the show was great closure, for some of us.

As I finish off the last of my coffee, I wonder if that is what my manuscript is. Closure. The show hadn't given it to me, because I knew the truth, but- perhaps, that is my true reason for writing this. I suppose I am jealous of the closure that others have, and I now seek my own. Either way, I have started now, and there's no going back.

I power down my laptop and stand up, throwing a glance at that little cornertable, where we all sat after our first official X.A.N.A attack (remember the ball of electricity in X.A.N.A awakens?) and I silently resolve to sit there tomorrow when I come to write.

** Long chapter is long, but hey. Anywho, not much to say, so I'll just give you the character list now:**

**_ Viktor Faust- Ulrich Stern_**

**_Quinton Della-Penna- Odd Della-Robia_**

**_JeromeBellamy- Jeremie Belpois_**

**_Valentina Prideux- Nurse Yolande_**

**_Loraine Guillory- Laura Gauthier_**

**_Marceline "Marci" Chevalier- Sissi Delmas_**

**_Simone Hurst- Mrs. Hertz_**


	2. The Coffee Shop Part II

**What's this? No opening remarks? Nope. Petra seems to be doing those for me now. LOL. **

**Three new characters for the guide! **

_Chapter Two- The Coffee Shop Part II_

It is early in the morning when I arrive in the coffee shop again, my laptop tucked under my arm. When I approach the counter, the barista smiles, recognizing me from my frequent visits. She's too young to have worked there when I first starting coming with my new-found friends, but, still, she's known me as a customer since she started. As a sci-fi author, published several times over, I had adhered shamelessly to the writer in a coffee shop stereotype.

"Morning, ma'am," the employee says. "Your usual?"

"Please," I reply, offering up a smile.

"Working on something good today?" she asks, scribbling down my order on a sheet of paper.

"The most important thing I've ever written," I say, vaguely.

"Well, good luck," the barista smiles. "We'll bring your coffee to your table."

After thanking her, I head over to the small table in the corner. It is seated for six, but I don't care. As I slowly sip my beverage and wait for my laptop to boot, I think of all the times we came to this café, even after our first meeting there, after the discovery of X.A.N.A. The very table in which I sat held years of memories. Before Kadic's rec room was added, this place was where we came all the time. It was, in a way, where our friendship was formed. Where we first made our pact as "Lyoko Warriors." It means a lot to us ,even today. Viktor even proposed to Kiyomi here.

My desktop finally loads, and I pull up my document, flexing my fingers to type, and let those memories- be they happy, sad, lighthearted, or serious - transport my mind back time once again in order to let the story continue.

_CR_

"You know, I didn't take you three as the sneaking out types," Viktor said, as Jerome gestured the group into the manhole cover in the campus park. "And I _really _didn't expect you to know secret passageways that sneak off campus." On the way from the dorms, the group had been filling Viktor in on all their findings, including the myriad of passages Loraine knew of that would help them get off campus going unseen. However, they'd left out Lyoko and Maya until they could prove it by showing him.

"Things aren't always what they seem," Loraine said, lowering herself into the tunnel. "You coming along, or what?"

The group, now a quartet, walked in silence until they come up on the factory. Petra seemed to be the only one who noticed Viktor's hesitation to slide down on the chains, but she ignored it as they piled into the elevator.

"So, this supercomputer you found," Viktor said, "it's in the basement, and it's lab is just above it?"

"Yes," Jerome nodded, pushing his glasses into place. "But- "

"But what?"

"But, there's something else," Loraine said. "We've been doing research on the computer since Jerome found it, and- and well, we've discovered it runs an entire other world, a digital universe called Lyoko."

"Right," Viktor rolled his eyes. "And you expect me to believe this, because- "

"Because," Petra said, "you're about to meet Maya."

"Maya?"

"You'll see," Petra assured, just as the elevator opened.

"I'm contacting her now," Jerome assured, hopping up into the chair to put on the headpiece.

"Why do _you_ always get to sit in the chair?" Loraine protested, mostly under her breath.

"Maya, are you there? We need you to meet someone," Jerome said, either not hearing or choosing to ignore her.

"Another new person?" Maya's face appeared on the screen, and Viktor flinched back. "Well, this is becoming quite the popular place, isn't it?" she joked.

"Maya, meet Viktor," Jerome said. "Viktor, Maya. She's a form of artificial intelligence, and she was there when I started the supercomputer up."

"Oh yes. The boy who saved you three in the dorm," Maya nodded. "I saw him on your dorm computer, Jerome, before I signed off."

"You're kidding, right?" Viktor said, giving off an awkward laugh. "This computer is just the factory's control unit. And you programmed Maya, right?"

"Actually, no," Maya offered. "I don't remember who I am or who created me. My memory has been erased." She paused for a moment, before smiling. "I'm by the red tower now. I can send you a visual, if you want, Viktor."

"You left your tower?" Jerome asked, but Maya's window disappeared in favor of a first person view of the polar region and the tower in question. The "ice sector" was beautiful, resting on a floating platform like the forest. Its sky was a dark indigo that contrasted with the pure white snow of the sector's terrain. Light blue ice canyons and ice structures also speckled the region, and, rising straight to the sky, was the tower, bathed in a bright red glow. Beside the tall structure stood two massive creatures, as scarlet as the tower's aura. They were flat and dislike, but stood tall on spider-like legs, making them almost resemble a crustacean. On their backs, Petra noticed a familiar eye-like logo and frowned.

"Hey, Loraine, isn't that the symbol we saw, before the computer in the library keeled?" Petra whispered, but Loraine gestured for her roommate to be quiet. Petra sighed, jumping back into Viktor and Jerome's conversation, just as the subject of the red tower was coming up.

"- in theory, might be able to bring Maya to earth, once we can get her to it."

"Is that why you were programming those robots; to make them battle ready in order to help Maya get to the tower?"

"Precisely," Jerome frowned. "But they're kind of smashed now, though. So, now we don't have anything to send through the scanners."

"Well, if you knew it were safe for living things, would you send humans?"

"Well, yeah, but we don't know if it's safe," Jerome said.

"Oh, I can get you a test dummy," Viktor grinned, the vengeful look in his eyes a little unsettling.

"I've already said it, I'm not testing it on humans."

"Don't worry," Viktor said. "Not a human at all. Who's coming with me?"

_CR_

"So, you really believe all this stuff Guillory and Bellamy are saying?" Viktor asked as he and Petra walked across the courtyard to the dorms.

"Well, yeah. You saw Lyoko with your own eyes."

"All the stuff that's been happening around campus, first the vending machine attacking Jerome and then the robots, they started after Bellamy started the computer, right? And the dangerous stuff seems to only happen to people involved. I say you shut it down."

"It could all be coincidence," Petra said. "Look, Jerome is really set on materializing Maya. And nobody's getting seriously injured. I'm sure once Jerome brings Maya to earth, he'll shut down the thing, anyway. I'm pretty sure she's the only reason he kept in on in the first place."

"Great. So you're risking your necks because Bellamy has a crush on computer software," Viktor muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Well, no. Not entirely. We all have our own reasons. Look, I don't know why you're so concerned. You said it yourself: only the people involved are getting hurt."

"Well, I'm helping you guys find a way to Lyoko, right? I think that classifies me as 'involved,'" he said.

"So, you're going to stick with us, then?"

"Yeah, probably." Viktor shrugged. "Well, here's my dorm." He opened the door, and a grey little dog stuck his head out from under the covers of the leftmost bed. With an excited bark, the mutt hopped off the furniture and started jumping on Viktor's legs.

"That's a dog," Petra said.

"Congratulations," Viktor said, rolling his eyes. He bent down and scooped the dog up. "It's Della-Penna's."

"Wait? It's Quince's dog? Are you sure you should- "

"This mangy mutt has been tearing up my room nonstop since Quince got here," Viktor retorted. "Besides, you don't really think virtualization's going to be that dangerous, do you?"

Petra was about to reply, when Quince appeared at the door. "Viktor? Petra? What are you- "

"Run!" Viktor advised, grabbing Petra by the wrist and zipping past Quince into the hallway.

"Hey, come back here with my dog!" Quince yelled, as the pair made a beeline toward the elevators. Quince managed to chase the two across campus, until the hunted pair, way ahead of Quince, came upon the athletic building. Viktor, thinking quickly, shouldered Petra into the direction of the gym. The doors flew open, and the pair tumbled in, losing Quince but ending up sprawled out on the slick floor. Quince's dog barked, wiggling free of Viktor's grasp and running toward a girl in the middle of the gym floor. It was that occurrence that alerted Viktor and Petra to the fact that they were not alone.

Their guest was Kiyomi Idane, a day-student in year nine. She was pretty second-generation Japanese girl, but was notorious for her temper. There was a rumor floating around campus, spread by the school newsletter, that she knew twelve different ways to kill someone with just a spoon. "So, Faust," she said, a slight grin on her face, "back for another thrashing already?"

"Uh. No. Sorry, Kiyomi. I'm a little busy, but- tomorrow. I promise."

"Right. Okay. Um, do you want _this _back?" she pointed to the dog hopping around her ankles.

"Uh. Yeah," Viktor said, avoiding eye contact as he reclaimed the animal. Knowing they couldn't use the passageway from the gym with Kiyomi around, Viktor and Petra cautiously doubled back, after checking to see if Quince wasn't around, towards the park passageway, arriving at the factory with no more opposition.

"How do you know Idane?" Petra asked, when they were safely inside the elevator, riding to the lab.

"She's in my martial arts class," Viktor said. "You might want to think twice about trifling with her, if the desire to tick her off ever comes up."

"Wasn't planning on it," Petra agreed, as the doors opened. "Now, let's get this puppy virtualized- uh, literally."

"You're planning on virtualizing a dog?" Loraine asked, when Viktor and Petra entered the lab. "Wait- where'd you even get a dog?"

"Long story," Viktor cut Petra off. "So, are we sending this mutt to Lyoko or what?"

"Uh, yeah," Jerome said, shaking himself out. "Go ahead and take it down to the scanner room."

"Okay," Viktor said, nodding his head towards the elevator. Petra obediently followed.

"I'll make sure the dog stays," Viktor said, once the dog was setteled in the scanner. "Why don't you go back up to the lab with Jerome and Loraine?"

"Okay," Petra said, heading over to the ladder. When she climbed back into the lab, she nodded towards her genius friends. "Ready, guys."

"Thanks," Jerome said with a nod as he slipped on his headpiece. He fingers flew across the keyboard and he spoke the sequence as he worked, as a means of concentration, Petra guessed. "Transfer: dog; scanner: dog; virtualization!" Jerome pressed the enter key to finalize the transfer, but the digitalizing outline on the screen was not of a dog- but of a person. The group at the computer heard Viktor's yell from down below, and the soccer player crawled up into the lab. "Della-Penna jumped into the lab from the elevator shaft, right before the process started. He jumped into the scanner before I knew what was going on , and the dog jumped out and the scanner closed before I even had time to think."

"You mean- I just sent _Quince _to Lyoko?" Jerome's face paled, and he immediately turned. "Um, Quince?" he asked cautiously into the headset.

_"Uh? Who is this? And- well, where am I?" _Quince's voice resonated from the computer.

"Hi. This is -um- Jerome Bellamy. And- as for where you are - that's a little harder to explain. You're inside a supercomputer, on a digital world called Lyoko. According to the grid-layout map here on my screen, you're in its Forest Sector."

_"Is this a joke or something?"_

"Uh- no," Jerome said.

_"Then, way cool- ouch! That's a lot less cool." _Three read blips appeared on the screen, next to the green blip that was supposedly Quince.

"Quince?" Jerome asked.

_"Hey, Jerome, there are giant cockroach-thingies attacking me. Is that normal for this Loco place?"_

"It's _Lyoko_. And yes."

_"Oh. Okay, then. Nothing to worry about." _

"Not what I meant," Jerome sighed. "Hide for now, Quince, but hold on; I'm sending you back up." He covered the mic on his headset. "Quince needs help. Any volunteers to go?"

"I will," Petra raised her hand. "About time, too."

"Me too," Viktor offered.

"Loraine?" Jerome looked at her.

"No. I'll stay here with the controls. In my comfort zone, I mean," the blonde girl shrugged.

"Alright," Jerome said. "Petra, Ulrich, get to the scanners."

The duo once again climbed into the scanner room, each loading into their respective cabins. _"Okay, here goes nothing,"_ Jerome voice echoed over the room's built-in intercom. _"Transfer: Viktor, Transfer: Petra." _The door's to both of their scanner's closed, making Petra swallow a pit. _"Scanner: Viktor, Scanner: Petra." _The scanner lit up in a flash of blinding light, forcing Petra to close her eyes. _"Virtualization!"_

A weightlessness watched over Petra, until she suddenly face-planted on the digital floor of Lyoko's forest sector, landing with Viktor right next to a reflective pond. Groaning, she dusted herself off, suddenly getting a good look at herself in the reflection of the water. Her strawberry blonde hair had been tied back into two twin braids, and she was now dressed in a dark blue tunic and grey leggings. Her feet were bare and her arms and legs had black henna tattoos up and down them, swirling into the strange-eye like symbol both by her thumbs and in the middle of both feet. She had a white circular shield attached to her back and a white armband on her upper left arm. "Sharp," Viktor commented, and Petra looked up to see he too had a new outfit.

He was a dressed like a samurai, with a dark orange tunic and a headband to match and brown pants underneath. He had a sword at his side, which he had his hand on, ready to draw at any moment. "Not bad yourself," Petra said. "Though, I wish I had a weapon. All I have is this shiel-" she cut herself off when, removing her shield from her back, her arm band suddenly snapped off her arm, becoming a gleaming white trident. "Um- never mind," Petra said. "Come on. Let's find Q."

"Right here!" the blonde's voice said, and Viktor and Petra whipped around to get a glimpse at Quince's Lyoko form. Neither could keep from laughing.

"Nice cat costume, dude," Viktor chortled.

Quince's Lyoko garb was, in fact, in strong resemblance to a giant purple cat, complete with yellow tabby stripes and a tail. His normally flat hair had been spiked up high, like a sharp spike on his head. "Oh, stop laughing!" Quince frowned. "I wanna know how these two get to look cool and I get stuck as a stupid kitten!"

_"I'm not really sure. The computer could use one's subconscious thoughts to create one's digital incarnation."_

"I don't dream about purple cats, Jerome!" Quince shook his fist, which was actually a paw-shaped glove now. "And what's more, why don't _I _get a weapon?" He pounded his fists together, when all of a sudden, an arrow sprang out from one of his gloves, nearly shooting Viktor in the face but narrowly missing.

"Watch it!" Viktor scolded.

"I take it all back!" Quince said, shooting another arrow at a nearby tree just for fun.

_"Hey, careful, Quince! According to my screen, you have a limited number of arrows in each glove. Don't waste them,"_ Jerome warned.

"Yeah, yeah. Chill, Einstein." Quince grinned. "Hey. I like that. It's your new nickname."

_"Shoot," _Loraine's voice said.

"What?" Quince asked. "Did _you_ want to be Einstein."

_"What? No!" _Loraine snorted._ "It's Marci Chevalier. She's in the factory!"_

"Marci?" Viktor groaned. "Oh, great."

_"Loraine and I are going to have to handle this one," _Jerome said. _"For now, try and meet up with Maya in her tower. It's about thirty degrees north northwest of where you are now. Loraine and I will be back ASAP."_

"Roger that!" Petra said, already on the move.

"So, who's Maya?" Quince asked, as they group made the journey to the tower.

"A virtual girl who lives here on Lyoko," Petra informed.

"There are girls here, too? Score!"

"Yeah, well," Viktor said, "Bellamy's flipped for her, so don't try anything funny."

"Especially when he's the one that can get you to and from earth," Petra laughed. "Hey, there's the tower!" She pointed to the towering cylinder in the distance and smiled, sprinting on ahead. Petra, hearing from Maya that one could just phase through the tower walls, barreled right inside, only to miss the platform and plummet down into what seemed like bottomless pit. Unable to heed her warning, Viktor and Quince suffered the same fate. Luckily, the trio landed on another platform just like the one Petra had missed- in the shape of that strange eye-symbol, that is. The walls of the tower were deep blue, with little boxes of binary codes blinking and flashing all over them.

"Well, that was weird," Quince said as he stood. "What did we do? Fall up?"

"Heck if I know," Petra said, standing up as well.

"I thought you were the expert? You have known about this longer than the both of us," Viktor retorted.

"Yeah, but that doesn't make me an _expert._" Petra retorted, hands on her hips. "Let's just- get out of here and see if we can find Maya." They headed the walls, and phased out, only to find themselves in the Polar Region.

"What happened to the forest?" Quince asked.

Petra shrugged. "Lyoko has four regions, and Jerome says the towers work like connectors. I think we just traveled between sectors!" She spotted something red across the way. "And, look! The red tower!"

"But no Maya," Viktor pointed out. "We should- " but whatever he was going to say never made it out of his mouth, because four cube-shaped creatures, sporting that reoccurring eye-logo, scuttled onto the scene.

"More ugly creatures?" Quince said, waving his fist at the squadron. "Come at us, blockheads!"

As soon as he spoke, the cubes started firing, and promptly hit Quince in the stomach, sending him sliding back on the ice. "Even they think your nicknames are terrible," Viktor said, drawing his sword at the same time Petra readied her trident.

"It'd be a good time to scat don't ya think?" she said, sliding back a fraction as a laser hit her shield.

"Too late now," Viktor said, deflecting a few of the monsters' shots off his sword. The four cubes backed the students into each other, and continued shooting. Viktor and Petra managed to deflect some of the lasers, but still got hit often enough. It was Quince, however, that got the brunt of the fire, even as he shot his arrows. "Hey, do either of you know have many life points we- " and he suddenly disintegrated into a shower of pixels. "Quince!" Petra gasped.

One of the cubes came closer to her, and, out of reflex, she jabbed her trident at it, directly ramming it in the center of the logo. The monster spun wildly before exploding and then disintegrating. "Hey, Viktor! Shoot directly into the logo. They'll automatically disintegrate if- " but Petra, too, received a fatal hit and she found herself on the floor of her scanner, a bit of pain still lingering. Viktor joined his teammates a few seconds later.

"Viktor? Quince? Petra?" Loraine called, climbing into the lab. "Thank goodness you three are alive."

"If that's what you call it," Quince moaned, struggling to stand.

"Did you take care of Marci?" Petra asked, using her scanner for support as she rose to two feet.

"Yes. Well, yes and no. Jerome's debriefing her in the lab now."

"Why don't we just have an assembly and announce this place to all of Kadic," Viktor snorted, rolling his eyes. "Would make it less tedious."

Back in the lab, Jerome had finished his speech to Marci and he swiveled to look at the others. "Well, at least we know it's safe to send someone to and from Lyoko, now," he said.

"And we finally know how to kill those monsters, too!" Petra nodded. "But, there's still a lot we don't know."

"Which is why I'm staying late. I'm going to do research on the creature life on Lyoko, and your digital incarnations. The more we know, the better we can strategize, and the more chance of getting Maya to that red tower. We'll debrief at breakfast in the morning. Loraine, can you stay?"

"For awhile," she said. "But I have a test first period, so- "

"That's okay. Maya can help, too." Jerome nodded to the others. "I'll see the rest of you tomorrow, then."

_CR_

"Petra, I've been thinking," Quince said, as the two waited in the breakfast line the next morning.

"'Bout what?" Petra asked.

"Well, with this Lyoko stuff, we're going to be hanging out a lot, right?"

"I guess. Depends on how long we keep it on."

"Fair enough. But, while it's on we'll be hanging out a lot, yes?"

"Agreed."

"So- does that mean we're all friends now?"

Petra paused for a minute, carefully contemplating an answer. "I think it means we have to learn to be. At this point, we barley know each other, but- with those creatures on Lyoko, we're going to have to work together to get Maya to the red tower."

"Oh. Okay." Petra couldn't tell if Quince liked the answer, but he was still his goofy, grinning self as they walked to the table by the window, where Viktor and Loraine were already seated.

"Hey, good buddies," Quince greeted, dropping his tray. Loraine and Viktor exchanged looks.

"Uh- morning," Viktor mumbled. He caught a glimpse of the massive stack of food on Quince's plate. "You know you're not supposed to spend all the money in your cafeteria account in your first week, right?"

"I'm a growing young fellow," Quince protested, shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

Viktor snorted. "With all that food you're packing away, it's a wonder you're so scrawny."

"Svelte," Quince protested, swallowing his food.

"Hey, guys," Jerome said, approaching the table, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder. "Where's Marci?"

"I saw her in the bathroom this morning," Loraine said. "Said she might be late because she had to find a way to ditch Kitti to come to the meeting."

"Well then we'll start without her," Jerome said, taking four manila folders out of his bag. "I've colored-coded them, for each of us. Yellow is Viktor, Purple is Quince, Indigo is Petra, and baby blue is Loraine. Mine's regular blue but it's back in the dorm. In them, you'll find information about the monsters- their attacks, and the life-point damage they can do - and then, if you've been to Lyoko, there's also information on your digital incarnations."

"You found all this in one night?" Petra said, leafing through her file.

"There's still a lot I don't know about the computer itself. But, on top of all that, I did find a program of particular interest- return to the past."

"Return to the- " Viktor shook his head. "Time travel doesn't exist yet, Jerome. Some people say it never will."

"Tell that to the supercomputer's creator," Jerome said. "Whoever that may be."

"Hey, sweet! Digital powers: Future Flash, the ability to see future events at random while on Lyoko. I'm physic now!" Quince waved his file in the air.

Viktor smirked. "Top this! Digital powers: Super Sprint, the ability to reach and maintain supersonic speeds while on Lyoko; Triplicate: the ability to spilt oneself into three whilst on Lyoko; Triangulate: the ability to use both Super Spring and Triplicate to create a trap fro monsters of lower intellgence."

"Darn. That_ is_ cool," Quince huffed. "What about you, Petra?"

"Uh- Digital Powers: Shadow-Dance: the ability to use the henna tattoos to conceal oneself in shadows; Shadow-Call: the formation of a digital shadow-horse from the henna tattoos."

"You know, this isn't really fair. Not only am I the only one who looks like a nitwit, I'm the only one that didn't get a _useful _power!" Quince folded his arms.

"Well, after we bring Maya to earth tonight through the red tower," Jerome said, "we won't need to worry about appearance or powers."

"So, you are planning on shutting it down, then?" Viktor asked.

"Well- I don't see the point of keeping it on, if Maya is here with us."

"And what if it doesn't work?" Viktor asked. "Look at all the weird stuff that's happened to you since you started that contraption up. And now, three more of us are involved. If you ask me, it's too dangerous to trifle with like this."

"He is right, Jerome," Loraine said, quietly. "We should shut it down."

"What about Maya?"

"It's not like she's human, dude," Quince said. "As cool as Lyoko is, if what you said about the vending machine and the robots is true- Well, risking our necks for an A.I isn't worth it."

"She has human emotions, intelligence," Jerome protested.

"I told you he was head over heels," Viktor muttered.

Jerome sighed. "Look, I'm sure the red tower is going to work. Just one more time on Lyoko, okay? Then, we'll shut it down."

"Even if it doesn't work?" Viktor asked.

"Even if it doesn't work," Jerome agreed. "But it will. We got tonight after dinner, okay? And we'll call up Maya during the break period and develop a plan of action."

"Sorry," Viktor said. "I'm booked during free period."

"Booked?" Petra asked. "With what?"

Viktor crumbled up his napkin, tossing it onto his tray. "A rematch with Kiyomi Idane."

_CR_

It was study hall period for Petra, Viktor, Loraine, Quince, and Jerome, and the two geniuses were comparing notes about the supercomputer while the others compared their files. Finally, Quince, huffing, flips his file closed. "You know, Einstein," Quince says, "numbering these monsters is too weird. We have to _name _them. How else are you going to warn us about them. I mean, seriously, which is easier. 'Look out, Monster 9-5A is coming_,_' _or_ , 'Look out, kankerlats are headed your way'?"

"Kankerlats?" Petra looked at the picture of the roach-monster Quince was pointing to. "It _is _kinda catchy."

"You're getting awfully attached, seeing as we're only going to Lyoko one more time," Viktor snorted.

"It's not getting attached," Quince protested. "It's being prepared. Right, Jerome?"

"Staying out of this!" Jerome insisted, while Loraine chuckled. With that, the group went back to silently working, when a conversation between two students at the table behind them caught the interest of the group.

"- heard this morning that Marci Chevalier got electrocuted. Had to go to the infirmary, too."

"Why? Did she try to plug in more than more than six hairdryers again?" the pair laughed, but their spies had different expressions on their faces.

"Still think it's a coincidence, huh?" Viktor asked, flipping his file closed.

"As soon as the bell rings, we visit her in the infirmary," Jerome assured. "We need to question her."

"This is getting freaky," Loraine said. "There's way more to this supercomputer than we could possibly understand, Jerome."

"You're not seriously saying that you think something's trying to _kill _us are you?" Jerome frowned.

"That's _exactly_ what she's saying, Bellamy," Viktor sharply retorted. "You're obviously dealing with forces _way _beyond you. And you better believe we're going to hold you to that agreement of shutting down the supercomputer."

"I'm telling you, the red tower is going to work!" Jerome argued, glaring at Viktor. Before the confrontation could reach shouting level, the bell to end the period rang.

"Break period! Ya-_hoo_!" Quince yelled, shooting straight up. Viktor rolled his eyes, grabbing his book bag.

"I'm out," the star striker said, scowling.

"Ah, don't feel bad, Einstein," Quince clomped Jerome on the shoulder. "Viktor just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today- and every other day of his life, apparently." He grabbed his own backpack. "Let's go have a little chit-chat with Marci, shall we?

_CR_

"I'm sorry, but Marceline is resting," the nurse said, when the group insisted on seeing Marci.

"You don't understand, ma'am," Jerome said. "It's very important. We- "

"Kitti!" Petra suddenly interrupted, pointing out the window to where the girl was reading on a courtyard bench.

"Right!" Jerome said, getting the idea. "Well, uh, thanks anyway, Nurse Valentina!" and the group ran out of the infirmary. When the group approached Kitti, she raised an eyebrow, folding her book closed.

"Um- hello? Do I know you?"

"Really, Kitti, we're in your grade!" Petra folded her arms.

"I mean do I know you _personally_?" Kitti rolled her eyes, checking her nails.

"We were lab partners once in sixth grade," Petra offered, smiling crookedly. "Anyway, Kitti, that's not why we came."

"Then why _did_ you?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it's about Marci. You see, she- "

"Got electrocuted this morning," Kitti finished for her. "Yes, I know. She does tell me things still, even if she did try to ditch me."

"Um- can you tell us exactly what happened to her?"

Kitti gave off an annoyed huffed, but replied anyway. "It's still fuzzy," Kitti explained. "She's saying there was some sort of electric monster trying to attack her. Principle Chevalier says she's crazy, that the shock caused her to hallucinate."

"Electric monster?" Loraine repeated, tensing.

"Did I stutter?" Kitti went back to her book.

"Well- um- thanks," Jerome said, and the group headed for a shady oak across the courtyard. "Let's call Maya," Jerome said, as soon as they sat down.

_CR_

Kiyomi and Viktor sat down on the bleachers after they finished their sparring match.

"So, call it a tie?" Viktor asked, taking a swig of water.

"You kidding?" Kiyomi raised an eyebrow. "We still have plenty of time left for a tiebreaker round."

"Yeah, but I have an English test to cram for," Viktor said. "Besides, my friends will be missing me. Yours too."

She lowered her head. "I -uh- I don't have any friends."

Viktor was about to reply, when the doors to the boys' locker room were suddenly thrown open violently, and a giant floating ball of electricity zipped out.

"What is that thing?" Kiyomi asked.

"No time. We gotta get out of here. Follow me," he grabbed her wrist, heading in the direction of gym's boiler room, where the secret passage to the sewers Loraine had discovered was. When the arrived, Viktor slammed the door shut, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "Kiyomi, see if you can find something to barricade the door."

"And what are you gonna do, huh?" Kiyomi asked.

"Call for help," Viktor said, already dialing Jerome's number.

_CR_

"Hello, Viktor?" Jerome answered his phone while the group was running towards the factory.

_"Bellamy, I was just attacked by a giant electric monster! Care to explain?"_

"Wish I could, Viktor. Look, we're headed to the factory now. The same thing attacked Marci earlier, so no time to wait for classes to be over. Get there if you can."

_"Fine." _And he hung up.

"Guys, Viktor is in trouble. We need to double time it!" Jerome called.

_CR_

"That thing won't attack you once I leave," Viktor said. "So, give it a few minutes, and then pretend this whole thing never happened." Viktor took a step towards the tunnel entrance, but Kiyomi grabbed his shoulder.

"I just saw you get attacked by a giant ball of electricity," she said. "That is not something that happens without explanation. So, we're staying here until I get one."

Viktor growled, folding his arms. "You're not gonna compromise on this, are you?"

"Nope."

"Fine. As long as you let me tell you on the way." He opened the door, and lead her through the tunnel into the sewers, in time to meet up with the group also en route to the factory.

"Who's this?" Jerome asked, looking Kiyomi up and down when he saw her.

"A girl in my martial arts class. She was there when I was attack, and she can fight, so- "

"Alright. Whatever. No time. Let's just get to the factory," Jerome said, already running again. Viktor filled Kiyomi is as best they could, Loraine offering a few additions here and there, as they ran. Eventually, the group reached the lab with no further problems.

"Alright," Jerome said, hopping onto the chair. Loraine took her customary spot behind him. "Viktor, Quince, Petra, you know what to do. I'll send you in the next wave, Kiyomi."

"Send me where?" Kiyomi asked.

"You'll see," Petra said, pressing the button to send them down to the scanner room.

As soon the elevator opened, the three veterans ran right to their respective scanners without hesitation.

"Fire it up, Einstein!" Quince called.

_"Okay. Transfer: Quince, Transfer: Viktor, Transfer: Petra. Scanner: Quince, Scanner: Viktor, Scanner: Petra. Virtualization!" _

Kiyomi jumped back a bit when the scanners opened again to reveal the three gone.

_"Ready, Kiyomi?" _

"Uh- yeah," the girl said, hesitantly stepping into a scanner.

_CR_

"Darn," Odd said, standing up from the crouch position he'd landed in. "Still a purple cat."

Kiyomi's outline appeared in the deep purple sky of the polar region and, becoming solid, she plummeted to the icy terrain below.

"Yeah, should've warned you about the fall," Petra said. "Nice outfit, though."

"Man!" Quince whined. "I was hoping she would look stupid so I wouldn't feel so lonely."

"You're such an oddball, Quince," Petra snorted, as Kiyomi stood up, getting a look at herself.

The new addition was dressed in a half red, half black kimono with gold flower accents and a huge yellow sash tied around it. Her shoulder-lengthed black hair had been pulled halfway up into a topknot and her face was made-up to be porcelain white, her lips and cheeks now a pretty red. While the veterans surveyed her, she surveyed them, noticing their drawn weapons, and frowned, patting herself down.

"Do I get one, too- " two folded fans fell out of the bow on her sash, and she picked them up. "Fans? That's it?"

"Try throwing them," Quince offered. "You never know."

"Okay," Kiyomi said, flipping one of them open. "Hee-_yah_!" She tossed it with gusto toward a nearby ice formation, and the spinning fan tore right through the top of the sculpture, reducing the formation to a pile of shards. Then, like a boomerang, the fan spun happily back to its owner.

"High quality weaponage," Quince complimented. "But check _this _out- " he pumped his laser arrows but, before he could should, Jerome spoke.

_"You guys can have can have show and tell later. For now, Maya's headed your way, and she's brining friends."_

"There are more people here?" Kiyomi asked.

"You know, when he's says 'friends'- he's sort of being sarcastic," Petra said, twirling her trident.

"And here they come," Viktor said, pointing. Maya came running into view, perused by four of the cube-like creatures.

"Alright," Quince pumped his arrows again. "One block for each of us."

"Block?" Kiyomi asked.

"Kinda of self explanatory, don't ya think?" Odd gestured to the horde of "blocks."

"Focus!" Viktor warned. "Maya, stay down!" He was the first to rush into the fight, Quince at his heels.

"Make sure to aim for the eye-like target," Petra said to Kiyomi before following the boys, Kiyomi at her heels.

The teenagers' attack was enough to distract the blocks from Maya, giving the digital girl a chance to hide, and then the battle started.

"Hey, does anyone remember anything about these guys from the file?" Quince asked, dropping on all fours and dodging the laser-fire with cat-like agility.

"Yeah," Petra said, the distraction making her lower her shield a fraction. "On top of lasers, they can shoot rings of fire and a ray of- " Petra tensed, as some cripplingly cold crept its way up her leg, immobilizing her - "ice."

"Eee-_yah!" _Kiyomi tossed her fan again, and it zipped at top speed through the battle, clearing both Kiyomi's block and Petra's.

"Are you sure_ Kiyomi's_ the rookie?" Quince teased, finally nailing his block with an arrow, only to be devirtualized by Viktor's.

"Serve's you right!" Petra huffed.

_"Guys, seriously? There are much bigger monsters at the red tower and you can't even handle these little guys?" _Jerome accused.

"Hey, Einstein, give it a rest will, you?" Viktor snorted, after finishing off his monster. "We could always trade places._ You're_ the one who wants that _A.I _on earth so badly."

"Is this a bad time?" Maya asked suddenly peering out from behind her hiding place. In person, she looked like a pretty young mountain elf, from her pointed ears, to her cream and white outfit, to her shy little smile.

"Uh. No," Viktor shook his head, obviously embarrassed. "Just- uh- show us the way to the tower."

"Um, _hello?"_ Petra gestured to her frozen leg.

_"Don't worry, Pets," _Loraine's voice assured from the sky. _"I'm doing research on my laptop now- Jerome downloaded all the monster files and your digital incarnation profiles onto it- and it says the effects of a block's ice ray only last a few minutes."_

"Can't I just cut her out?" Viktor asked, taking his sword to the ice. As soon as the metal met the frozen liquid, there was a spark that sent Viktor back a few feet. "Scratch that idea."

_"Kiyomi, Viktor, just go on ahead with Maya toward the tower. Petra will join you when she can," _Jerome sighed. _  
_

_CR_

Back in the factory, Jerome slumped in his chair, rubbing his forehead.

"Nervous?" Loraine teased, sparing a glance up from her research on the red disk-monsters.

"You know what I have riding on this," he told her. "If we don't make it to the red tower- "

"Uh, Jerome," Loraine said, noticing a window pop up on his screen. "We have _another_ problem. Look."

A security alerted had popped up from one of the upstairs cameras, showing the pair that the electric monster had showed up in their factory. "Uh, guys," Jerome said, into the computer this time. "We might want to double time it with getting Maya to that tower."

_"We're coming up on it now," _Viktor assured.

_CR_

"Whoa, what are those things?" Viktor asked, as he, Kiyomi, and Maya came up on the tower.

_"Krabs," _Quince's voice informed.

_"Be careful, guys," _Loraine said. _"These guys have two lasers. Their front laser deals forty life-points' damage, and then they have a laser on their underbelly that can deal out eighty life-points' worth of damage."_

"Noted," Viktor said, drawing his saber as the trio neared firing distance. "Maya, you'd better hide, then."

As the digital girl did as she was told, Kiyomi drew her own weaponry. "There are two. Divide and conquer?"

"Why not?" he shrugged, charging the krab on the left. The huge best reared its spidery leg and knocked Viktor in the chest, causing the athlete to skid across the ice.

_"Careful, Viktor!" _Jerome scolded.

"We're doing the best we can here," Viktor said, kicking to his feet. "But these guys are nasty. Any advice, Loraine?"

_"According the file," _Loraine said, _"because of their height, one can destroy a crab by cutting of their legs and making them fall to the ground. Also, one can slice a krab's underbelly to kill it. But, there is the laser, so- "_

"Thanks!" Viktor said, already sliding underneath the krab. He swings his sword for its underside, but he misses. The krab, however, doesn't miss when it fire's underbelly's laser defensively, and Viktor was devirtualized, leaving Kiyomi alone to deal with both monsters.

She drew her fans, aiming one for each krab's forelegs, but left herself exposed. Angered with the assault, both fired at her simultaneously. Her reflexes acting quickly, she did a back handspring and managed to managed to avoid one laser fire. The other laser barley grazed her shin, but threw off her landing and she skidded between two columns of ice a little further down the path, where she found Maya hiding.

_"Way to avoid the hits, Kiyomi. That last one barley touched you, but it still cost you twenty life points," _Jerome informed.

_CR_

"You were right about Kiyomi, Viktor. She can fight," Loraine said, looking at the two boys who have just gotten back from the virtual world. "In fact, it's only _girls _on Lyoko now." She smirked.

"Yeah, send us back in and then we'll see how it pans out," Quince challenged.

"Can't," Loraine said.

"Why not?" Quince folded his arms.

"Jerome and I have been doing a lot of research on the supercomputer since he found it, as you know, and that includes the scanners. We discovered that once a being gets devirtualized off Lyoko, he won't be accepted by the scanner again until an hour later. Don't know why, it's just how it works."

"In other words, there was little room for mistakes, and you blew it," Jerome said.

"Relax," Loraine shot back. "Kiyomi and Petra are still on Lyoko, and Kiyomi's giving that krab a run for its money. We'll be fine."

The elevator doors opened on her words, revealing the electric monster.

"Fine, huh?" Viktor said, getting into a fighting stance.

_CR_

"Finally!" Petra exclaimed, when the ice around her leg shattered. "Hey, Jerome! Loraine! Which way is the tower?" Silence. "Jerome and Loraine?"

"They can't here you. They're away from the computer," a voice said, and Petra tensed, whipping around with her trident out. She scanned the area, only to see nothing but the stark whiteness of the polar terrain.

"Um, hello?"

"Right here," the voice said, and suddenly slightly movement caught her eye, like a heat mirage moving towards her. She squinted and finally saw the outline of a teenage boy. The silhouette's hand moved up, making a motion like removing a hood and, suddenly, a head of shaggy brown hair with soft grey eyes revealed itself. Petra then realized it was this boy's clothing that was concealing him, for, every time he moved, the full-body outfit would shift, in a shower of pixels, to mirror its surroundings, rendering him nearly invisible, especially when still.

"W-who are you?" Petra asked.

"Ash Winston," the boy replied. "Sorry about this." He reached out a touched Petra on the forehead, and suddenly a splitting headache tore through her skull. Before she devirtualized, a strange phrase echoed in her mind._ "X.A.N.A. Beware of X.A.N.A." _

When Petra got out of the scanner, she heard yelling and saw flashes from lab upstairs. She dashed for the ladder, arriving in time to see not only had the electric monster made its way to the factory, but so had Marci, Mr. Chevalier, and the gym coach/boy's dorm monitor, Jacque Monroe. Petra had half a mind to yell at Marci for telling her father, but in light of the fact that the lab and everyone in it was currently under attack, it didn't seem appropriate.

However, the electric ball suddenly dissipated, and the screaming and chaos halted.

"Jerome, I managed to help Maya to the red tower, but she didn't oh- " Kiyomi looked like a deer in headlights when she saw the principal after climbing into the lab.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. Chevalier demanded. "And what were all those flashes?"

"Maya," Jerome turned to Kiyomi. "Did she- ?"

"I'm sorry, no," Kiyomi lowered her head.

"I can't believe you told!" Viktor pointing a finger at Marci. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to let you into the group."

"Marceline was acting out of your best interests, Mr. Faust," Mr. Chevalier warned. "Now, I demand an explanation of what's going on, right this instant."

"Jerome is it ready?" Loraine asked, looking to the other genius in the group.

Jerome nodded, approaching the computer. "Hold on, guys. And pray this works, too. Return to the past, now!" Jerome pressed the button to input the program, and, suddenly, a bright while light flooded the room.

_CR_

"I was worried you got- wait, didn't we do this yesterday?" Petra blinked and Quince, Loraine, and Viktor. They were suddenly by the vending machines.

"The return in time actually worked?" Viktor blinked a bit.

"What are you guys talking about?" Loraine put her hands on her hips.

"Seriously, Loraine?" Petra said.

"Hey, Einstein!" Quince said, rushing into the pavilion. "You were right, the program worked!"

"What's that?" Jerome looked at them, confused.

Quince looked from Loraine to Jerome. "Uh, the program that you launched from the supercomputer?"

"How do you know about the supercomputer?" Loraine asked, then she turned to Petra, glaring. "You didn't tell, did you?"

"Guys!" Kiyomi rushed up to the group, panting, with her hands on her knees. "It worked!"

"Yeah, we know," Viktor said. "But not on these two," he jabbed his thumb at Loraine and Jerome.

"Well, then," Petra said. "We can fill them in."

_CR_

"I mean, even Maya says this all happened, and, according to my knowledge, she's never met you. So, it's the only logical explanation," Jerome sighed.

_"Adette,"_ Maya said, from her computer window.

"Say, what?" Quince asked.

"My name. I remembered it when I went into the red tower. It's Adette," she explained. "And I have a theory. The supercomputer's memory doesn't seem to have been affected by the return in time. The others are scanned into the computer's memory, which is why their memories, in turn, aren't affected either."

"So Loraine and I just need to be scanned into the computer's database," Jerome said. "Easy enough."

"Wait a second," Viktor put up his hand. "We had an agreement Jerome, whether you remember it or not. If that red tower didn't bring Maya- Adette- _whatever_. If your red tower theory was a bust, you gave your word you'd shut the computer off."

"Oh," Petra frowned. "Yeah. He did."

"Well- " Quince said. "I mean, he can still could bring Maya to earth someone how. And no one was _seriously _injured at all. Plus, this thing literally has a reset button. No matter what happens to us, we can just launch a return trip, right? I can't really see the harm in giving him a _little _more time to materialize Adette."

"We're discussing this over coffee," Viktor huffed, his jaw set. "I know a place in the city we can go."

_CR_

And that was how the rag-tag little group was founded. Over coffee, and without Adette, to avoid the guilt factor, the group brought to the table the pros and cons of keeping the supercomputer on a little bit longer. Petra even brought up Ash Winston and the group concluded that the mysterious "X.A.N.A." was behind the minor attacks. They also concluded that, since the electric monster disappeared when the tower was "deactivated" and turned back to blue by Adette, X.A.N.A. was behind the red ("activated") tower, too. After it was decided what they had gone through in the past two days was manageable, the group made the executive decision to help Jerome in any way they could, giving him an extended deadline of the school year's end.

So, after the initial shock wore off, the group toasted to their new life, smiling at the fact that they had made new friends and the fact that they were about to embark on a "fun" adventure.

Oh, how wrong and misguided they were!

_CR_

It is nearly closing time now as a finish the document, and I keep starting at the last paragraph, remembering that little toast we had. Lyoko had been a thrill. It really had, but I cannot believe I had the effrontery to smile in the face of such a dangerous future. We had no inclination then. Yes, in Code Lyoko X.A.N.A was made out to be very dangerous right away, but, the truth is, it was only a minor annoyance at first. We were kids, we were so, so young. Lyoko was like a game in the beginning. No, we said it was serious stuff, always scolded Quince for not taking it seriously, but it even had its own "reset" button, as he said. It didn't matter if we missed school or got hurt. We'd just launch a return. No big deal.

We said it was, in the beginning, but we didn't believe it, not deep down. And when reality would finally set it, we would all be blindsided. If we knew then what we knew now, we wouldn't have kept the thing on. Adette wouldn't have let us.

But, there was and is no going back from it, and not even a launch of return to the past program could erase the choice we made in this coffee shop on that day.

**...My word that was long. **

**It always bothered me that they were doing this all for a computer program. Yes, she really was human in the end, but they didn't know that. Then I remembered they were kids, and they probably didn't grasp, at first, the full severity of it. I mean, middle school? Yes, they step up to the plate and are mature enough for the challenge, but you get it. And by the time they realize what they've done, they're in deep, can't bring themselves to part with Aelita. Because, though they're not in love with her like Aelita, but she is their friend, too. So there's my commentary on that. **

**Well, anyway. Prequels are done. Now it's time for me to REALLY take some artistic liberties. Have to explain that year gap and everything, remember? **

**Also, about the files and such. Yes, it is kind of a cop out, but I'd assume X.A.N.A's monsters are catalogued somewhere in the supercomputer's data, and, remember, Loraine's a skilled hacker. It's plausible they can get the information. **

**In other news, drop a review, if you wish. I always love feedback. **

**And three new characters for the guide:**

_**Kiyomi Idane- Yumi Ishiyama**_

_**Jacque Monroe- Jim**_

_**Adette- Aelita **_


	3. The Hive

**I was pretty faithful to the prequels, but I cannot say the same from here on out. Major season finales and premiers, the ones that are plot-centric, will be done in a similar manners, but the artistic liberties, rearranging, adding, and deleting of episodes is about to begin! Season One is going to get the worst of this, because it has no real plot-centric episodes until the final two. And The inspiration behind this chapter is Swarming attack with slight nods to Log Book and Zero Gravity Zone. I'm also accelerating the story a bit, so I don't have a ninety-five plus chapter monster on my hands. **

**As a side note: At this point, everyone still barley knows each other, so there will be a bit of awkwardness. Theirs is a new friendship, after all. They're also new to the Lyoko-fighting game, so they'll be a bit dysfunctional. **

**Two more for the guide!**

_Chapter Three-The Hive_

Sunlight streams through the windows of Loraine's little house and she and I sit on her couch, drinking iced tea.

"So, I passed the coffee shop on my way home from the grocery store yesterday," Loraine says casually. "Looked like you were working on something big."

"I was," I nod.

"So, what big elaborate story is our sci-fi genius working on?"

"Ours," I reply simply, taking a sip of my tea. Loraine nearly chokes on her own drink.

"But Quince already- " she begins, a little pale.

"The whole story, Lo," I said, with a sigh. "Noelle deserves to know."

"But she's so young. Too young!" Loraine protests.

"That's my call. Just like what and when you tell Cody and Trista is yours."

Loraine sighs, looking at the clock. I can tell she wants to debate the subject further, but I can also tell she doesn't have the time. "Thank you for babysitting, Petra," she finally sighs. "As you know, the children are in bed for their naps already. I assume you're going to be writing while they sleep. I can't talk you out of that, so just don't let one of them see, alright?"

"Okay," I quietly reply, and she stands up. She grabs her coat and purse and walks out of the front door in a manner that verges on storming, but could not be quite classified as such. I sigh as I power up my laptop. I understood Loraine's reaction, I really did, and she and I were too close to dwell on the incident much. She would be fine when she arrived back home—our experiences had brought us too close for us to be even mildly annoyed with each other for long. It was like that for all of us, as any Code Lyoko fan might infer from the show. But we weren't always that close knit. When the Lyoko Warriors first formed—well, we were a group of complete strangers, bound by nothing more than a mutual secret.

Yet, it was that mutual secret that lead us to call each other "friends." It was by duty that we spent so much time together, not desire. At first, we were pretty dysfunctional, broken, lacking a vital trust in one another. And it would take something pretty drastic to change all that...

_C:R_

"Adette? Are you connected?" Jerome asked, drumming his fingers a bit.

_"Of course," _the girl said, her smiling face appearing on his screen. _"Did you need something?"_

"No. I just had some extra time before breakfast, and I was just wondering if you wanted to talk," Jerome said, unable to hide his blush.

_"I'd like that," _Adette said. _"It would be a nice change from studying up on earth, looking for Ash, and practicing my Creativity power."_

"How has all that been?" Jerome asked, trying to ignore the growl from his stomach. He had just started to flirt with the idea of skipping breakfast to talk with Adette, and he needed to convince himself he wasn't hungry.

_"It's been fine," _Adette sighed. _"I can't wait to come to earth, though. It sounds like there is so much to discover there, while Lyoko gets very dull."_

"The others don't seem to think so," Jerome said.

_"They've only been a handful of times since you all first discovered it a few weeks ago. It's not as exciting when you live here twenty-four seven." _

"Well, you'll be here with us soon enough," Jerome said, with a confident smile; however, on the inside he wasn't so sure if he were up to such a task.

_"Yes, I know. I just wish there were more to do here, to keep me distracted until then."_

"Be careful what you wish for," Jerome warned. "Because X.A.N.A might decided to grant that wish."

_"No sign of it on this end since last week's minor attack, Jerome," _Adette said. She added with a smile, _"Are you sure it even exists?"_

"A sweep of the supercomputer revealed a virus called X.A.N.A, which appears to have the ability to manipulate electricity," Jerome assured, not quite getting the fact that she was joking. "It's using those towers, it looks like, to get to earth, so I'm still pretty confident in the towers being the answer to your materialization."

_"Well, let's hope so," _Adette said.

Jerome prepared his reply, but never got to say it, because his door opened and Loraine and Petra came in.

"You should really lock your door, man," Petra said. "What if it hadn't been us?"

"Then it would have been Kiyomi, Viktor, or Quince," Jerome sighed, pushing his glasses into place. "Let's face it. I'm not exactly Mr. Popular."

"Still, Petra has a point," Loraine said, then seemed to notice for the first time who Jerome was talking with. "Oh, hi, Adette!"

_"Hello, Petra and Loraine," _Adette said.

"Hello," Petra replied with a smile, before turning to Jerome. "So, ready to go, then?"

"Go?" Jerome asked.

"To breakfast?" Loraine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I was just gonna stay and talk to Adette. I'm not very—" his stomach growled loudly enough for the girls to hear.

"Don't worry, Jerome," Petra said, hauling the boy to his feet. "You can talk to Adette during our break period."

_"They're right, Jerome," _Adette agreed, _"you need to eat. I'll be fine. I have to brainstorm ideas for tonight's training session, anyway. Goodbye, all!"_

"We'll see you later, Adette!" Petra said, before the digital girl nodded and signed off.

"Okay!" Petra declared. "To the cafeteria!"

_C:R_

"So, anyway, then Sushi—Sushi's my dog, remember—well, then Sushi starts running around the house with my sister's top in his mouth, and my sis is freaking out. So, my mom—wait, you're going the wrong way, Viktor!"

Viktor paused, turning to face his roommate. "What are you even talking about?"

"Our table is over there," Quince said, shifting his full breakfast tray in one hand in order to point to the table where Petra, Loraine, and Jerome were sitting.

"What do you mean _our _table? _My _table is over there." Viktor pointed to where the football team was gathered.

"Dude, you're a Lyoko Warrior now. You sit at the Lyoko Warrior's table. You _always_ sit with us."

"Look, Quince, you guys a cool. You really are. And I said I was willing to help out, but, let's face it, once Adette is materialized and the supercomputer is shut off, we won't be hanging out together. I mean, look at us all. Do you really think we'd be even moderately close to friends in a world without Lyoko?"

"Maybe," Quince said. "Loraine and Petra were friends beforehand."

"I'll see you in first period," Viktor said, before he promptly left his roommate standing there. Quince was about to call after him, when a group of girls—one about his age, and two a bit younger—seemed to just materialize right in front of the blonde.

"Are you Quince Della-Penna?" the older girl asked him. She was smiling brightly, which contrasted with the rest of her look. She hard dark hair, so black it was almost blue, and a black, red, and white plaid shirt, black shorts, red converse, and a black beanie. She had thick plastic glasses, headphones around her neck, and an old messenger back littered with pins. Her two satellites—the younger girls—were also smiling at him, and were a little more tame in their dress. The first one was a pale redhead, with freckles sprayed across her curious features. She wore a simple pink cardigan and a darker pink shirt and skirt underneath that. The other girl had beautiful, smooth, and dark complexion, with cornrows in her dark brown hair. She wore a yellow shirt and cargo pants, and was holding a notepad, looking eager to write in it.

"The one and only," Quince said, wriggling his eyebrows at the oldest, the apparent leader of the group.

"I'm Nadia Anders, editor and chief of the _Kadic Academy Herald_," she replied. "This my ace reporter, Marie. She's a fifth-grader." The redheaded inclined her head. "And my head writer and photographer, Tanya, also a fifth-grader." The dark haired girl smiled.

"Hello, Ladies. Nice to meet you," Quince said. "What can I do you for?"

"Well, as you are the new kid around here," Nadia said, "the_ Herald _wants to do a feature story on you. Care to obligate?"

"Anything for a pretty girl," he said, winking flirtatiously at Nadia.

"Well, thanks, Quince!" Nadia said, pushing the younger girls forward. "Good luck, Marie and Tanya. I expect the story by week's end, okay?"

"Wait, what about you?" Quince asked, his ego deflated.

"I eat with the debate team. Besides, Marie and Tanya are great reporters. I liked to give them the lead on plenty of stories. Thanks again, Quince." She said, jogging away.

"Well, we can eat over there," Milly said, pointing to an empty table rather close to the front of the cafeteria. "We'll get the interview while we eat."

"Sure. Why not?" Quince shrugged, following the two girls to the designated spot.

Across the cafeteria, Petra noticed Quince and Viktor heading to their respective tables and frowned. "You know, when we added members to the group, I expected to be actually adding members to the group," she muttered, shoveling a bite of waffle into her mouth.

"There's no mandate that says they have to eat meals with us, Petra," Jerome sighed, swirling his spoon around in his cereal. "It's fine that they want to do their own thing, so long as they show up for our training sessions after dinner."

"Speaking of that," Loraine said, "I've isolated the codes we need, Jerome. We can test it with the supercomputer during our break period, if you want."

"What codes? For what?" Petra asked, puffing her cheeks out. The reason why she'd wanted Quince and Viktor to join the table was so she wouldn't feel so left out when Jerome and Loraine started their "over-Petra's-head-laced-with-overly-smart-vocabulary" speeches.

"Well, while our training sessions have been profitable, they haven't given us much experience with the monsters," Jerome said, "but I want you guys to have hands-on experience in case of a real-life X.A.N.A attack. Loraine and I have found the codes X.A.N.A uses to generate those monsters—at least the smaller, simpler ones—so we can create our own to use as practice targets."

"Trying to replace us?" Petra asked, with a joking smile, though she _was_ a little worried. She loved going to Lyoko, but Jerome was still apprehensive about sending humans.

"They won't be nearly adequate enough for that," Jerome assured. "We can't generate them in a great enough quantity or with great enough power, since Loraine has to be the one to control them all."

"Well, either way, I'd sure like to see it," Petra said. "Can I join you at the factory when you test it?"

"Of course you can," Loraine said, and Jerome nodded in affirmation. After the little arrangement was settled, the bell to end breakfast resonated and the students began to file out of the cafeteria.

_C:R_

"Hey, I thought you chickened out on me," Kiyomi smirked when Viktor entered the room.

"Why? We always train during the break period, so why would I skip out?"

"Well, you weren't at the lunch table today."

"You actually ate with the others?" Viktor asked, stretching out.

"Of course I did," Kiyomi said. "Same as you typically do."

"Well, I was eating with the soccer team. Lay off, okay? I have other friends too!"

"You're in a wonderful mood today," she said, sarcastically. "It was just asking a harmless question." She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine," he muttered, wrenching free from her grasp. "Everything is just fine. Are we sparing or not?"

They both got into their fighting stances, when Viktor's phone suddenly buzzed, and he rushed over to the bleachers to answer it. Jerome had advised them to be ready at any time for a call that would mean there was an active tower on Lyoko. Kiyomi followed Viktor quietly, seeing his face drop when he read the caller ID.

_"Hallo, Vater," _he greeted, his voice flat. A pause followed. _"Nein, nein. Ich habe_—_" _Another pause, in which Kiyomi could here yelling, also in German. _"Ja. Aber_—" Viktor frowned deeply when his father started yelling again. _"Ja. Ich verstehe das." _Mr. Faust spoke again. _"Ja._ _Tschüss." _Viktor hung up with a growl, jamming his hands into his pockets.

"Who was that?"

"My dad," Viktor sighed, sound as if all the life had been drained from his voice. "Look, Kiyomi, I have to go."

"Is everything alright?"

"I told you. I'm fine," Viktor said, gathering up is book bag. "I just have to go, okay?"

Kiyomi winced when he stormed out, letting the gymnasium door slam loudly behind him.

_C:R_

Fifteen minutes before the break period ended, Quince, Loraine, Jerome, and Petra arrived on campus, strolling harmlessly out of the park area and into the courtyard. Students strolled the woods during the free period and after classes all the time, and no one would suspect where the quartet had been. They were headed over to the large oak tree on the far end of the yard, when they spotted Kiyomi alone on a bench and decided to remedy that.

"I thought you and Viktor always spar during this period," Petra said, sliding next to the older girl.

"He bailed today," Kiyomi said.

"Wow," Quince said. "First the meals, now this. What's up with him lately?"

"I don't know," Kiyomi said, "but something's up. His dad called right before we started training. After that, Viktor left."

"His dad called?" Quince asked. "Uh-oh."

"Why uh-oh?" Petra asked.

"Well, when you're a dude's roommate—"

"When _one_ is a man's roommate," Petra corrected.

Quince glared at her. "Can I finish?"

"Sorry. Writer," she pointed to herself. "It's a grammar reflex. Please, go on."

"Anyone when _one _is a dude's roommate, one learns a thing or two about said man. Viktor's father is a very smart, brilliant man. He's an engineer or some nonsense like that, requiring brain power I'll never have. Anyway, because Viktor's dad was and is so successful, Mr. Faust wants Viktor to be the same way."

"What father doesn't want his child to be successful?" Jerome asked, sparing an upward glance from the laptop he was glued to.

"That's not what I mean," Quince shook his head. "I mean, Viktor's dad wants Viktor to be successful in the same ways—in every way possible. The man is a hard-core perfectionist. And, since Viktor is an only child, he bears the brunt of it."

"He could've just told me," Kiyomi said, quietly, and the bell rang in the distance, making the group look up.

"It's all water under the bridge," Jerome said, closing his laptop, "as long as he shows up for tonight's training session. This is a vital on, guys. It's going to be a tough one."

"Speaking of tough," Quince sighed, picking up his book bag. "We have a French test next period, a quiz in World Literature after that, and then a vocabulary quiz in English. All that in one afternoon."

"Welcome to Kadic," Petra said.

"There's a little tool called time management," Loraine said, picking up he messenger bag. "You should use it."

"Let's just go to class," Quince muttered, sticking his tongue out at her.

_C:R_

After dinner, Viktor was lacing up his cleats in the boy's locker room. He tensed up when his phone buzzed, praying it wasn't his father. Viktor knew Mr. Faust would ask how his son did on all the tests and quizzes that afternoon, which was not well. Fortunately for Viktor, though, it wasn't his father. It was Jerome. Viktor rolled his eyes, silencing the call. The others should have known the team was meeting every day after dinner from this week onward, in preparation for next week's match. It determined whether or not Kadic would allow to qualify for the championship tournament. Viktor simply didn't have time for Lyoko at the moment.

Turning his phone off and stowing it in his bag, Viktor jogged from the locker-room and out onto the field, where both the soccer team and cheerleading squad were going through their warm ups. Viktor saw Kitti and Marci off in a pair by themselves, talking and laughing as they ran through their stretches. Biting the inside of his cheek, Viktor forced himself to approach them.

"Kitti?" he asked, and both girls paused, staring at him for an awkwardly silent moment.

"Well, hello Viktor, sweetie," Marci said, her black ponytail bobbing as she popped to her feet. "What can I help you with?"

"I was hoping to talk to Kitti," he said, impatiently.

"Kitti?" Marci's face fell, and she glared a bit at her best friend.

"I know why you're here, Faust," Kitti smiled. "Glad you finally came around."

"When can we meet?" Viktor asked.

"Well, I'm pretty booked this week. Does the break period tomorrow sound alright to you?"

He briefly thought of his daily spars with Kiyomi, but brushed it off. "Yeah. Okay. See you then," Viktor said. "I'd better go, though." He nodded to the football team, already working through dribbling drills.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow," Kitti said.

"Bye, Viktor," Marci gushed, and the star athlete rolled his eyes before jogging up the field.

_C:R_

"Guess he's not coming then," Jerome said, after the third attempt to call Viktor. "Alright, just head to the scanners. We can't wait any longer." He put on his headset. "Adette, the others will be meeting you in the Desert Sector soon."

_"Already there, Jerome," _Adette said, popping onto the screen.

"Great! I'm virtualizing them now."

Kiyomi, Quince, and Petra took that as their cue to enter the scanners, and patiently waited for Jerome to start up the procedure.

_"Okay," _Jerome said. _"If this goes right, Adette will be right there when you are virtualized. Loraine will then generate the monsters, and she will be running the controls from here laptop here in the factory."_

"Cool!" Quince said, pumping his fist in the air. "Finally, we get same action on Lyoko!"

_"Standby for transfer," _Jerome ordered. _"Transfer: Petra, Transfer: Kiyomi, Transfer: Quince. Scanner: Petra, Scanner: Kiyomi, Scanner: Quince. Virtualization!"_

In the bright skies of desert sector, Adette spotted the outline of her friends, and slowly moved out behind the bolder she'd been taking shelter behind. "Hello, my friends," she greeted, once they dropped from the sky. "No Viktor?"

"No Viktor," Kiyomi confirmed, a little bitterness in her voice. She took our her fans. "So, what first?"

"There's a plateau just a little ways down the path," Adette said. "It's perfect for your training."

"Lead the way, Princess," Quince said.

"Princess?" Adette said, cocking her head to one side. "I do not understand."

"Well, you're kind of the only local—which makes you kind of like Lyokon royalty, right? And, we're saving you from evil monsters, and there are towers involved. Like a princess fairytale."

"Um, sure," Adette said, though she still had a confused look on her face. "The plateau just the way. Shall we go?"

"Yes!" the trio chorused, before sprinting after Adette. As the rookie Warriors laughed and joked and bantered across the plains of the desert sector, they were unaware of the sudden pulsations radiating across the data cables in the forest sector as X.A.N.A moved secretly through the area of the virtual world. And, while the Warriors focused on fighting their own version of kankerlats (or so Quince branded the ugly roach-creatures), two massive krabs were virtualized right in front of a forest tower, a massive cylindrical creature appearing behind them and rolling to hide behind the tower as the structure turned red. X.A.N.A, after being quiet enough for a week that the group had started to questions its danger, was finally on the move.

_C:R_

"Good work, today, all of you," Jacque said, as the sweaty football team chugged down bottles of water after the grueling practice. "If you keep up the good work, and play your hardest at next week's match, we're sure to make the tournament." Though the coach was meant to be addressing the whole team, Viktor felt Jacque's eyes on him. There was no denying the boy's prominence on the team, and the pressure was on—especially now that Mr. Faust was breathing down his son's neck, and Viktor was sure he had failed every test or quiz he'd taken that day.

"Alright, hit the showers!" Jacque said, blowing his whistle to dismiss the team. "Faust, you're in charge of taking the balls back the supply shed. You may pick another player to help you."

While the rest of the team jogged for the locker rooms, Viktor recruited the goalie to help with the equipment. When they got there, Viktor swung the heavy sack onto the right shelf, and an angry buzzing sound rang in his ear. A hornet zipped out from behind the shelf, stung Viktor in the neck, and flew back it its hiding spot. "Ow!" Viktor yelled, smacking his hand over the spot as the pain started to spread. Suddenly, his temples were throbbing, and, with a few choice words, collapsed, writhing, onto the floor of the shed.

"Hey, Faust are you—" he cut himself off when he saw the star athlete writhing. _He must_ _have a severe allergy, _the other player thought, before he burst from the shed, screaming for help.

_C:R_

"Now way, Becker," Quince said, as the trio climbed into the lab after their Lyoko session. "I totally took out the most kankerlats. You didn't even come close."

"Actually," Loraine said, once the whole group had arrived, "Kiyomi had today's record."

"What?" Quince whined. "But—"

"She was the only one not trying to show off," Jerome said, turning in his chair. "In an actual X.A.N.A attack, it's not a contest. Good job, Kiyomi."

"You know, you've been saying 'if there's an actual X.A.N.A' attack for weeks now," Quince said. "When is there going to _be_ an actual X.A.N.A attack?"

_"Be thankful there hasn't been more activity, Quince,"_ Adette said. _"We don't exactly know our enemy very well yet."_

"Adette has a point," Jerome said. "It's better to be overly prepared than caught off guard." He turned back to face Adette. "I'm uploading some more data on earth, okay?"

_"I'll head to a tower now," _Adette said. _"I'm going to stay in this region tonight and study. I like it here in the desert anyway."_

"Sounds perfect," Jerome said. "I'll call you tomorrow morning."

_"See you then, Jerome,"_ Adette said, disappearing.

"Princess and Einstein, sitting in a tree," Quince sang.

"Shut up," Jerome muttered.

"Ah, lighten up," Quince waved his hand, hailing the elevator. Petra, Quince, and Loraine bantered back and forth the whole ride up, before Kiyomi had to leave them on the bridge. Before she could leave, however, Jerome caught her on the arm. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes. Of course," she said. "What is it?"

"I need you to find out why Viktor didn't show tonight," Jerome said.

"Me?" Kiyomi looked a little surprised. "Why me? Quince is his—"

"Viktor seems to trust you more than he trusts us," Jerome said, matter-of-factly. "I'm telling the others not to mention it until you get the information out of him. I figure we should give him a chance to explain himself."

"Are you two coming or what?" Quince called from up ahead.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Kiyomi replied. "Lay off!" She turned back to Jerome. "I'll see what I can find out," she said, before sprinting into town to get back home.

_C:R_

By the next morning, the news of Viktor having to go to infirmary after the hornet sting was all over school. He'd been released a few hours after the incident, but the groundskeeper had been called in the investigate the shed all the same. During free period, Kiyomi was pacing the gym floor, waiting for Viktor to appear for their training session. Taking out her phone, she checked the time and frowned. He was ten minutes late already. She called and got no answer. She texted him, sat cross-legged on the floor, waited for five minutes, and got no answer. Finally, she'd had it. She was worried sick that he'd ended up in the infirmary, and angry that he'd been avoiding not only her but the rest of the group as well.

Anger slowing seething to a boiling point, she grabbed her bag, deciding she would be prodcutive instead. She had a science test later than afternoon, and the library was the best place to study for that. Only, the library made things worse.

She saw Viktor at one of the long tables, sitting next to Marci and across from Kitti. They all had books and highlighters out, and were laughing and having a grand old time. Kiyomi was out of the door faster than lightning, and she had just as quickly locked herself in a stall in the girl's bathroom.

What was that sensation rising in her chest? Surely it wasn't jealousy! Viktor was strictly a friend, and he could hang out with all the girls he wanted. She was obviously just angry about being blown off...

...right?

"Kiyomi, is that you?"

Kiyomi winced at Petra's voice, cautiously opening the stall door to meet Petra's curious eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Kiyomi asked. "Aren't you with Loraine and Jerome? Quince?"

"Nah," Petra waved her hand. "The two geniuses are doing their nerd thing and working with the supercomputer, and Quince is apparently continuing his interview with the school paper. I figured I'd come to the library and work on my animal report for science."

"I remember writing that," Kiyomi said. "What's your topic?"

"_Ursus arctos horribilis,"_ Petra said.

"...What?"

"The grizzly bear," Petra laughed. "I just wanted to see what it feels like to be Loraine and Jerome. Come on, let's find a table. We can spend the break period together."

_C:R_

"There you go, madam," Quince said, smiling stupidly as he handed the cola to Nadia. "One soda."

"You're so sweet," Nadia said, rolling her eyes and she shifted her notebook and paper in order to hold the can.

"I know," Quince said, popping his soda can open and leaning against the wall of the vending machine pavilion. "You know, we could always find a more private place for our interview," he said, grinning stupidly.

"Are you coming on to me?" Nadia asked.

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Quince said, and Nadia snorted.

"Alright, slick, where's this 'private place'? " Nadia challenged.

"There's this really great clearing in the woods. I go there all the time to draw my pictures."

"You draw?" Nadia asked, balancing her soda to start writing in her notepad.

"Of course," Quince said. "I'll have to show you my sketchbook sometime. Now, are we going to the woods or not?"

"Okay. Fine. Lead the way," Nadia said, gesturing him to start walking. The pair ventured to the park, and Quince found his clearing. It was a small little meadow, with a thin ribbon of water running through it.

"This is nice," Nadia said, plopping down on the grass. "Now, can we get started?"

"Sure," Quince plopped down across from her. "Ask away."

"Well—" Nadia said, but the sound of popping twigs cut them off, and they both looked up to see the groundskeeper emerge from the trees.

"Hello, sir," Nadia said, standing up. "I was just interviewing—sir, are you alright?"

The man had a mad look in his eyes, and the left side of his face was littered in what looked like beestings.

"Sir, you need to go to the infirmary," Nadia said, approaching the man. As soon as she got close, she grabbed her wrist and tossed her, like a rag doll, into the nearest tree. She barley uttered a cry of pain before passing out. With her out of the way, the groundskeeper turned to Quince.

"Um—sir?" Quince said. "Are you sure you want to—" But Quince couldn't get the rest of the sentence out, because the groundskeeper lunged for him.

_C:R_

"Wow, I never looked at it that way before," Jerome said, and Loraine scribbled down a formula on a piece of paper. "This actually might be able to help. I just have to switch around a few of the variables and I think I might be able to crack the secret to materialization." He grinned like a kid on Christmas. "I'm glad I decided to ask for your help, Loraine."

"I'm glad you asked, too," she said, burying her face in her laptop so he couldn't see her expression.

"I mean, really," Jerome went on, totally oblivious. "You've been so great with all the monster research and helping me watch Lyoko to help out the guys. I don't know how I can thank you."

"I can—think of a few ways," she said, looking straight at him. He didn't seem to register at first, but a beep from his laptop brought about an abrupt change in topic.

_"Jerome!" _Adette's face suddenly appeared on Jerome's laptop screen and he jumped back several feet, looking at the crowd of students around him.

"Adette, hi," he stammered. "Now's not exactly a good—"

_"There's an active tower in the forest sector!" _Adette said breathlessly. _"I was headed there in my search for Ash when I found it! X.A.N.A is on the move!"_

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Jerome said, closing the laptop. He looked at Loraine. "Get your phone out and start a mass text. We need to warn the others."

_C:R_

_"_Looks like there's trouble," Kiyomi said, as the two girls in the library received the same text. Petra saw Viktor check his phone too, before frowning and shoving the device back into his pocket.

"Why, the little—" Petra stated to get up.

"Not worth it," Kiyomi said bitterly. "We need to get to the factory."

The girls sprinted from the library after gathering up their stuff as quickly as possible, and met up with Loraine and Jerome in the sewers.

"Where is Quince?" Petra asked, as the group sprinted towards the factory.

"I tried to call him, and he didn't answer. I hopes he's okay," Loraine said. "Viktor?"

"In the library, blowing us off again," Kiyomi snorted.

Loraine sighed a bit. "We needn't waste our time," she concluded. "Looks like it's girl power on Lyoko again."

_C:R_

Viktor's phone buzzed in his pocket for the third time, and he finally caved, opening it under the library table. Kiyomi had sent him the same text three times, _'Not that you appear to care in the least, but X.A.N.A is on the move. We can't find Quince, and we think he's in trouble. Just thought you'd like to know.'_

A lump formed in Viktor's throat. He didn't have to go, right? He was way too busy at the moment, with pressure mounting form both Jacque and Viktor's father. X.A.N.A wasn't powerful enough to seriously hurt Quince, and, even if the other Warrior was a bit maimed after the encounter, a return trip could fix it all. The group would be fine without Viktor.

And the way Kiyomi worded that message like she knew Viktor and all his problems. She had no idea what was going on in his life. It's not like he _wanted _to be missing out on Lyoko, but the way is father had reacted to Viktor's last progress report—

Still, Viktor felt a pang of guilt in his chest. It seemed pretty serious, with the urgency with which Kiyomi was texting. She wasn't an obsessive person like that unless it was an emergency. And, if Quince were to die, would a return fix it? Viktor bit his lip. A return would certainly would give Viktor a do-over on a lot of things, if it went as far back a last time. Grades could be fixed. Death? Well, Viktor was not willing to test the theory out.

"Hey, Kitti," Viktor said, pulling the best grimace he could. "I'm suddenly feeling really sick. Can we reschedule?"

"I told you, I'm booked for over a week," Kitti said. "I can't fit you in until two Tuesdays from now!"

"Works for me!" Viktor said, hopping up. He grabbed his things and scampered from the library as fast as he could.

_C:R_

When Kiyomi and Petra landed on Lyoko, things _seemed _quiet and still and Jerome had managed to land them right next to Adette.

"Ready to rock and roll, then?" Petra said, a breezy carefree quality to her statement. The self-named "Lyoko Warriors" had seen little battle, as X.A.N.A's previous attacks had been both few and far between, and extremely harmless acts like frying a Warrior's cell phone while it was charging or shorting out Jerome and Loraine's computer monitors. In the past week, any active towers were deactivated before Jerome even had a chance to virtualize the Warriors, as X.A.N.A sent no monsters to counter Adette. A return trip fixed any property damage, and everyone moved on with their lives.

The poor group had no idea how different this attack would be.

"Yes, but be warned," Adette said. "X.A.N.A has two krabs guarding the tower."

"You mean it's actually trying to defend itself?" Kiyomi said, taking out her fans.

"One for each of us," Petra took out her weaponry. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"You're starting to sound like Quince," Kiyomi teased.

_"Uh, girls," _Loraine said. _"I wouldn't get too comfortable. Squad of hornets on the way."_

"Hornets?" Petra asked.

_"I kind of like Quince's names," _Loraine admitted. _"Anyhow, these guys are nasty. Their lasers on do twenty life points in damage, but they can fly, so they're crazy fast. Some of them can spit poisonous acid, too, which can do major life point damage."_

Kiyomi and Petra exchanged looks, the banter flying from their minds.

"Hide," Kiyomi commanded Adette, and the digital girl did as she told as the two other Warriors took their battle positions.

C:R

Back on earth, Viktor had questioned around to try and pinpoint a location to look for Quince. Apparently, several students had seen him head into the park with some girl, so Viktor found himself barreling into the woods at top speed. At first he thought he was on a wild goose chase, but Quince's yell soon sounded through the forest declaring otherwise. Viktor darted in the direction of the outcry, and came to a clearing, where Quince was desperately attempting to avoid the attacks of Kadic's groundskeeper and a dark-haired girl was laying unconscious beneath a tree. Viktor briefly wondered why the groundskeeper was attacking Quince, but X.A.N.A was involved, so the poor staff member got a nice hard roundhouse kick in the ribs, which was enough to wind and stun the man.

"I'm assuming X.A.N.A?" Quince asked, too stunned to make his usual wisecrack. The groundskeeper lay there groaning, so the boys took his apparent lack of violent impulse as a chance to talk.

"Gee, what was your first clue?" Viktor snorted. "I didn't even know it could possess humans."

"I don't think it can," Quince said. "Not directly."

"What do you mean?"

"The hornets," Quince said. "You had a headache when you got stung, and the groundskeeper had stings all over his face. X.A.N.A's a virus, and it's using beestings to spread itself."

"It did feel like something was trying to take hold of my mind," Viktor admitted. "I'm impressed, Quince."

"Hey, I'm lazy, not stupid," Quince said.

The groundskeeper started stirring again, thus ending the exchange.

"You get to the factory," Viktor ordered. "They need extra help, and I have a better chance in a fight on earth."

"Right," Quince said, focused enough not to let his ego cloud his judgment as he took off for the sewers.

C:R

_"I just got a call from Quince," _Jerome's voice informed. _"He's on his way to the factory now!"_

"Good!" Petra screamed from under her shield. "Because I'm at an unfair disadvantage here!" Due to Petra's strictly short-range weapon, she was practically useless against the "hornets," which left poor Kiyomi to cover the offensive all on her own.

"Girls," Adette voice called and Petra turned her head to see Adette poking her rosy pink head out form her hiding place. "Come over here, quickly. I will make us shelter until Quince arrives."

"How are you playing to do that?" Kiyomi asked, doing a handspring to avoid laser-fire.

"Just come," Adette assured.

Reluctantly, Petra stood, raising her shield to protect both herself and Kiyomi as they sprinting to where Adette was hiding. As soon as the trio was close together, Adette dropped to her knees and an echoing operatic sound filled the skies of Lyoko. A dorm virtualized around them, keeping them sheltered from the hornet fire for the time being.

"Loraine wasn't kidding," Kiyomi panted leaning up against the walls of the dome, "those things _are _nasty." With Petra's weaponry limitation, Kiyomi had to handle things on her own with the hornets, and, after taking out two, she'd started to get exhausted. She knew she'd taken two hits, which meant she only had sixty life-points left. She really hoped Quince would be arriving soon so they could get past X.A.N.A's warm welcome. The remaining two hornets had started firing on the dome, and Kiyomi wasn't sure how long it could hold up.

It was a few minutes before the girls inside the dome heard and obnoxious call of, "Laser Arrow!" Two shots followed the proclamation, and soon the firing on the dome ceased .Cautiously, Adette dropped down to her knees and let the shelter dissolve so that the trio could see Quince smirking at them, swishing his tail. "Afraid of a little beestings, ladies?" he teased.

"Yeah, you try fighting four hornets on your own," Kiyomi muttered, getting up. "Jerome, how far are we from the tower?"

_"It's thirty degrees north from here," _the male genius informed. _"Adette knows the way."_

"Then lead the way, Princess," Quince said.

C:R

Back on earth, Viktor was more thankful than ever for his years of martial arts training; he didn't want to think fighting the groundskeeper would be like if Viktor couldn't fight. Still, the poor boy's sides were burning for air, and his muscles were scolding him with every move, begging for rest. He'd gotten a few good knocks in, but the groundskeeper just wouldn't give up. Any longer and Viktor would be more like a punching bag than a real opponent.

Viktor groaned as the X.A.N.A-fied staff member got in a rough tornado kick, sending Viktor back into a tree. The brunette boy was pretty sure he felt a rib crack, but he gritted his teeth and stood, only to stumble again as soon as he stood. Clutching his fists, Viktor swore. He'd pushed his physical limits many times before. His body picked the _perfect _time to give out on him. To his left, Nadia, the girl Quince had been with, started to groan and stir.

"What?" she asked blearily, picking up her head.

"Nadia, get—" but Viktor was too late. The groundskeeper had Nadia in a headlock as quickly as Viktor could blink. Viktor knew from the couple of hits he'd taken that with X.A.N.A's power, the man's strength was brutal. One swift flick of his arm, and Nadia—Viktor turned a little green thinking about it. Standing up, Viktor tired to look threatening as he started down his opponent, but it didn't work. Both of them knew the truth. Viktor was now in a bind.

C:R

"Ready to make crab cakes, ladies?" Quince asked, as the tower came into view.

"I hope so," Petra said, getting out her weapon and nodding for Adette to hide. Once the pinkette was out of sight, the fighting trio charged into the clearing, immediately getting the krabs' attention.

"Here we go!" Petra said, shield up.

The leftmost krab went straight for her, its upper body very maneuverable on its spidery legs. It fired its front laser and, with a dance-like movement, Petra managed to dodge. The krab wobbled a little bit, but Petra had a perfect recovery time and managed to get in a jab with her trident. Unfortunately, the blow barley scraped the beast's thick read armor, and the krab made the next move, backing Petra up to the edge of the platform. She wobbled a bit, and her shield fell off her arm, plummeting into the sea-like oblivion below.

Looking from the krab to the void beneath, Petra called out shakily, "Jerome, what happens if someone falls over the edge?"

_"Well, let's just leave it at I hope you never fall in," _Jerome replied.

The krab moved closer. Petra wobbled more. "How bad?"

_"You could be lost forever in the digital void, even with a return trip,"_ Jerome said. _"Well, at least you'd require a very complex code to bring you back if—"_

"Noted," Petra said, deciding to take the risk and dive under the krab. The beast fired its laser, which scorched Petra's leg, but she managed to jab it's underside. As the minor sting in on her thigh died down, Petra smiled as the monster exploded. "Sweet!" she called.

_"Hold on. Don't get too happy," _Loraine said. _"It wasn't a direct hit, but it cost you sixty life-points all the same. Watch it!"_

An explosion sound resonated from behind Petra, and the girl turned to see the second krab perish as well. "Great teamwork, Kiyomi!" Quince whooped.

"Teamwork!?" Kiyomi scoffed. "You took three hits, missed all three, and so I hit it with my fan!"

_"Not important, guys," _Jerome said. _"All that matters is, the monsters are gone. So Adette can—"_

_"Hold on, Jerome!" _Loraine get him off. _"There's something on my monster radar still—crud! It's a megatank!"_

The "megatank" had never been seen by any of the Lyoko Warriors, but it was deadly. It was a spherical creature, with a hard outer shell. The only time one could be destroyed was when it opened to fire its laser. The catch, however, was the laser did one-hundred life-points' damage with one fell swoop. Petra had been praying she'd never meet one.

As soon as Loraine spoke, the monster in question rolled out from behind the tower. Opening it, the metal ball whined as its laser charged. "Get down!" Quince yelled, just as the red blast filled the plateau.

C:R

"Okay, X.A.N.A," Viktor said, trying to keep his face calm for the sake of the panicking Nadia. "You know your problem is with me. So, let the girl go and I'll comply."

Wordlessly, the groundskeeper tossed Nadia aside. The poor girl looked up at Viktor, who snapped at her to leave the clearing. She didn't need to be told twice, snapping up and rushing like a bolt of lightning towards the campus. Once the dueling duo was alone, Viktor turned towards his opponent with feigned confidence. "Alright—_ach!" _

Viktor's anguished scream filled the woods as a crack resonated from his leg. A white, fiery hot pain filled his entire body and the limb now hung at an awkward angle. The groundskeeper approached Viktor, the strange target symbol, which Quince had branded the "Eye of X.A.N.A," flashing maliciously in his eyes. Just when the young Lyoko Warrior thought it was the end, the possessed administrator dropped Viktor's in-tact cell phone right within the Warrior's reach, and disappeared like a flash into the thick forest.

C:R

"Ooof!" Petra complained, sliding along on her rear as the megatank's blast hit her shield. Her defensive weapon was the only thing strong enough, it seemed, to hold off the deadly ray. "Quince, now!" she ordered.

"Laser Arrow!"

As Quince shouted out his new apparent catchphrase, the megatank closed off. "Darn it!" Quince whined, and Petra, exhausted, collapsed to her knees.

_"Your shield can't take another blast like that," _Loraine warned, _"next hit and it goes. You along with it, Pets."_

"It'll be worth it," Petra assured, staggering to her feet as the megatank swirled a bit, obviously charging another blast. What it did next, however, shocked the living daylights out of all the observing Warriors. The huge metal beast, rather than firing, zipped out the edge of the sector and plummeted to the digital sea below.

_"What?" _Quince shrilled. "You _chicken!"_

"Adette," Kiyomi said. "Hurry and get to the tower before X.A.N.A changes its mind."

C:R

"Why would X.A.N.A give up last minute like that?" Loraine said. "It just doesn't make sense. It had a us right where it wanted us."

"Ah, phooey," Quince said. "We had that megatank up against the ropes! X.A.N.A just acknowledged that."

"Quince, this is serious," Kiyomi scolded.

"So what do we do?" Petra asked. "The tower was deactivated."

"We could launch a return," Laura said, already stepping towards the computer.

"No!" Jerome put up hand. "That program—it could be dangerous. We're dealing with time itself here, Loraine. And we don't know how it can affect the world if we use it so often."

"You always have to test things!" Loraine complained. "Why do you keep waiting around for someone else to make the move for you? X.A.N.A will kill us all if you keep on like this."

"I just don't want to use something that we know so little about unless we absolutely have to!"

The sound of Kiyomi's phone made everyone stop short. "It's Viktor," Kiyomi muttered, checking the I.D. Everyone paused and waited for her to answer. There was a brief conversation between the two before Kiyomi hung up again. "His leg was broken in the battle with the groundskeeper," she informed the group.

"Launch the return," Jerome sighed.

Loraine beamed in triumph, entering in the code. "Return the past, now!" she declared with gusto and a bright light enveloped the world.

C:R

When the blinding light white died down, Viktor stumbled when he found himself back in the cafeteria. Blinking a bit, he realized he had been dropped back into the moment when he was halfway to the soccer team's breakfast table. He turned around and saw Quince talking with the _Herald _team, smiling flirtatiously at Nadia. As the trio flounced off, Nadia looking like a cross between love-struck and shell-shocked, Viktor approached his fellow Warrior, a sheepish look on his face.

"Is there room for me at the Warriors table?" Viktor asked

"Depends," Quince said. "Are you going to tell us why you've been acting like a total jerk lately?"

"I guess," Viktor muttered, through gritted teeth.

"Then let's go, good buddy," Quince said, starting to walk towards the table.

"Wait!" Viktor called out.

"Yeah?"

"Nadia looked really happy when you were done talking to her. What'd you say?"

"Well, during our date before the attack, I got to know some stuff about her. I used it to impress her this time around, and I got _her _to ask _me _out. I could get used to the returns."

"You're a real oddball, you know that, Quince?"

"I do, as a matter of fact," Quince said. "Now, hurry it up, my food's getting cold!"

When the two boys approached the table, Viktor expected glares from all sides. The only reaction he got was Petra firmly telling him to sit by means of a firm gesture to the left most chair.

"I texted Kiyomi," Loraine said. "She should be here in—"

"Hey, guys," the oldest Warrior approached the table, dropping her tray.

"Now?" Loraine raised her eyebrows.

"I was already here," Kiyomi said. "I'd been in recording data for a science lab."

"Oh, well that's good, then," Quince said. "Viktor, did you have something to tell us? Like, why you've been so aloof?"

"And why you ditched me to hang out with Kitti and Marci?" Kiyomi added, sounded a little edgier than she'd intended.

"I'm sure Quince has filled you in on my dad? I told him all about it, and I know Quince can't keep his mouth shut," Viktor sighed. The group nodded.

"The truth is," Viktor sighed, "I'm dyslexic." He waited for the group to suddenly get up and leave. To laugh at him. To do _anything. _Their expressions, however, remained neutral.

"So?" Jerome said. "I have Aspergers."

"I have ADHD," Quince offered.

"Why does it even matter?" Kiyomi asked. "Did you think we'd really snub you because of that? After all we've been through together?"

"I just—didn't want you to think I was dumb," he muttered. "My whole father's side of the family does."

"Dumb?" Petra asked. "Dumb isn't having a learning obstacle. Dumb is thinking we'd make fun of you for it. Pardon my French, but screw what you dad's family thinks!"

"Yeah? Trying telling that to my dad," Viktor rolled his eyes. "He and his brother—my Uncle Christoff—have spent their entire lives trying to one-up each other. My dad was extremely successful in his early adult years, while my uncle ended up in jail twice. Until my uncle met his wife, a driven woman that inspirited my uncle to get back on his feet. They had two perfect-in-ever-way children, Sieghild and Claudia, and my parents had—well, me. Once Uncle Christoff became my dad's boss, that's when it started to go downhill. Myy uncle kept rubbing it in and rubbing it in that he was such a success story, while my father had a lower salary and a wife that, after a difficult delivery of me, could never have another child. Football—well, it's the only time my dad looks at me like I'm something important, because it's the only thing I'm good at! He and my mother are coming to the big match next with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. I'm under a lot of pressure from my father about it."

"That's not true, Viktor," Kiyomi said. "You're one heck of a fighter and you can kick some serious monster tail on Lyoko."

"Thanks, Kiyomi," Viktor sighed. "I'm sorry I ditched you for Kitti, but it's not what you think. She's going to tutor me in English, since she's one the American students on campus." He looked at everyone else. "I should have told you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, good buddy," Quince said, throwing his arm around his roommate. "Just, tell us next time when somethings eating you. After all, you've wasted enough time trying to keep secrets from us when we could've been helping you prepare for the game! And you've been wasting time Loraine, Kiyomi, and Jerome could be helping you study!"

Viktor smiled half-heartedly. "That's true."

"Don't worry," Petra said, with a grin. "With the return to the past program, we have all the time in the world!"

And the group laughed, ready to live the same day a second time.

C:R

Just as I type my last words, I hear Loraine's children stirring upstairs. Sighing, I power down my laptop and get up off the couch. As I think back on the day I had just chronicled, I shake my head. So, innocent even after such a potentially deadly attack. Then, I smile.

I wonder what a hardcore Code Lyoko fan would think of the recently finished chapter, as X.A.N.A was not supposed to gain the ability to possess humans until the second season. Well, that was a little true. X.A.N.A could not _directly _possess humans until the time a Code Lyoko fan would call season two, but, using other means, he had no problem taking control of the human mind. Yet, the point of the last attack, the point of concern, was not what the attack was, but the purpose behind it.

Many argue season one didn't have a plot—it was arranged so anyone can accidentally skip an episode and the series could be easily picked back up without a viewer missing too much. Yes, while this season of our life was patch-worked, edited, and out of order, there was a plot. Did it every occur to you that X.A.N.A made it a point to destroy enough to warrant a return in time? And any Lyoko fan knows what happens to X.A.N.A after a return trip. X.A.N.A knew. X.A.N.A knew from the very beginning that we had it sorely underestimated. We didn't think _it _had a plot and direction. But, we would be proven severely wrong so many ways, even in that first year.

**Kindergarten-level German, FTW! I took two years, actually, and I know a little chunk to tell the truth. But my grammar isn't the best. I'll try to add in some conversations between Petra and Viktor in German. (Petra is German, for those of you who didn't know) **

**Anyway, I was always fascinated by the potential back-story with Ulrich's character. I hope you like my interpretation of it. I do! It would make sense that he's dyslexic. I also thought it would make sense if Jeremie had aspergers (I mean, super smart, anti-social tendencies, awkward is social situations, but still AWESOME?) and well, yeah I think everyone knows Odd is a likely candidate for ADHD. Do you agree with me? Let me know via a review. (*hint hint*)**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my nearly 9k chapter! **

**-Moonlit. **

_**Marie and Tanya- Milly and Tamiya**_


	4. Build Us Up, Tear Us Down

**Sorry this took so long! I've been really, really busy! **

**Episode inspirations for this chapter:**

**The X.A.N.A attack and subplot in Cruel Dilemma**

**A loose reference the X.A.N.A attack in Log Book**

**Nods to: Zero Gravity Zone. **

**With a little foreshadowing of: Teddy Godzilla**

**I'll be doing a breakdown similar this at the beginning of each chapter, just so you can get an idea of what will go on. **

**Also, three new characters to add to the guide! **

_Chapter Four- Build us Up, Tear us Down_

It is a warm day outside and I've opted to spend to spend it with the Fausts. Viktor and my husband are both at work, but Kiyomi is home and together she and I sit in the yard, watching our children play. Her son, Kiren, seemed very adamant about playing soccer with my little Noelle, so the two are locked in a match with enough suspense to rival the world cup. On the sidelines, Kiren's twin sister, Akahana, is doing tumbles and contortions around the yard.

"She looks like you on Lyoko," I laugh, watching the little girl. Unlike how Noelle takes mostly after her father in looks, Akahana is the spitting image of Kiyomi from her short dark locks of silk to her pretty almond-shaped brown eyes.

Kiyomi frowns a bit at the mention of the virtual world. "Loraine told me you were writing about it, what really happened."

"Mostly," I shrug. "I will change some details like pop-culture references to hide the location, so Noelle or anyone who reads it won't get any ideas. But the important things—yes, those are the same."

A dark shadow passes over her face, and she stands. "You brought your laptop with you?"

"Yes, I just finished up a chapter recently."

"I want to read it," she mutters. All I can do is nod.

"It's inside, I'll bring it out." I get up, bringing my precious livelihood out for her. I pretend to watch the children as she reads, but I am truly watching her out of the corner of my eye. I watch her face morph as our life, right before her eyes, goes from its child-like naiveté to a more dangerous existence, all with us foolishly ignore how difficult the fight we'd taken on was becoming.

C:R

Viktor yawned loudly, flipping his World Literature textbook closed and gazing out across the library. Though Kitti couldn't be there with him that afternoon, the study guide she made up for him really did help. He had just enough time for a warm-up session in the gym before the break ended. The big match was just a few days away, and he wasn't about to lose. Not with his uncle and cousins watching. Sieghild was tame enough, but it was Claudia he had to watch out for. She was also a sublime soccer player like Viktor, but had amazing grades to match. She and Viktor were almost as bad as their feuding paternal figures. He wasn't about to screw up in front of Claudia.

As he headed for the gym, things seemed good for him. With the help of Kitti and his friends, he'd managed to get a decent grade on the last World Lit test, and, with their help, he had gotten off to a decent start with the essay that was worth a good chunk of his final quarter grade. If he made an A, he might be able to slide by with a solid B for the semester. It wasn't perfect, but it would be enough to, for now, keep his father off of his back. And, if Kadic won the game, well—maybe it was good Uncle Christoff and his daughters were coming to the match to witness it.

Whatever good mood Viktor had was heightened when he found Kiyomi in the gym, sparring imaginary opponents. "Did I forget we were supposed to meet?" Viktor asked, setting his bag down.

"No, I got your text last night," she assured, "I just wanted to have some alone time to clear my head. That last X.A.N.A attack was rough, and I'm trying to put it from my mind."

"You too?" Viktor asked.

"Well, X.A.N.A very suddenly came a long way from shorting a fuse here and there," Kiyomi said.

"He tried to enter my mind," Viktor said. "To think _I _could have been the person attacking Quince—"

"But you weren't," Kiyomi approached him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

They held each other's gaze before she went on. "For some reason, X.A.N.A couldn't successfully possess you. You're stronger than it. Remember that, okay? It won't win. It never will."

"What exactly is it trying to win, Kiyomi?" Viktor asked.

"I wish I knew," Kiyomi said. "But Jerome and Loraine are working tirelessly on Adette's materialization. They'll find it soon, and then we'll shut the computer down and be done with X.A.N.A for good."

"Yeah, I hope so," Viktor muttered, jamming his hands in his pockets.

_"Attention all students," _Mr. Chevalier's voice said over the school-wide intercom system, _"after the end of break period, please report to the auditorium for a special assembly. All students must be present for the important announcements we have."_

"Wonder what that's about," Kiyomi mused.

"Guess we'll find out soon," Viktor shrugged. "Come on, we can head over there now. If we get there early, we can save seats for the rest of the group."

C:R

"Jerome, you heard the announcement," Loraine said impatiently as she waited in her fellow genius's doorway. "We need to go. Like, now."

"Go on ahead, Loraine," Jerome muttered. "I think I might be on to something here."

"So, write it down in your notepad and enter the program later," Loraine said. "Do I need to tell Adette on you?"

"You can tell Adette on me all you want—as soon as we bring her here." He started typing in the programming, and a very annoyed Loraine moved to grab him out of his computer chair. In his struggle to fight her off, he accidently typed in a few random keys and then accidently clicked enter, which made the program start running a test run on his screen.

"Loraine!" Jerome whined, swiveling his chair around to glare at her as the computer whirred. "I almost had it, too!"

"Oh, relax," Loraine said. "It's not like—Jerome, look! Look right now!"

"What?" Jerome turned around in his chair and his eyes bugged when he saw what was flashing on the computer screen. _'Program trial successful,' _the little pop-up read. "Unbelievable!" Jerome said, sitting on a chair. "I don't know how I did it, but I'll be copying this down onto a CD and then saving it to my hard drive. Go on to the assembly, I'll be right there. I'll tell the news to Adette."

C:R

"Jerome did _what?"_ Quince whispered.

"Found a successful materialization program for Adette. Totally by accident, too," Loraine replied.

"Hey, you two," Viktor nudged his roommate. "Mr. Chevalier is about to talk. I suggest you zip it, or G.I Jacque will write you a nice detention slip."

"Attention, students," their principal, happily perched on the stage, said into the microphone, "as you know, we are just a few short days away from hosting a major soccer game. Our soccer field, unfortunately, is not the most well-kept. So, until then, we will be having construction equipment on our campus making minor restorations to our field. Please steer clear. As a result, our soccer team and cheer squad will be having practices at a local park. A bus will be waiting for you outside of the school gates after dinner tonight. Also, the prom committee would like me to announce that tickets will go on sale the day of the game, and will be sold at a booth next to the concessions. At the same booth, you can nominate students for king and queen. Don't forget to ask your date; there's an amazing couple's ticket deal. That is all. Please report to your next class."

"I totally have to ask Nadia today to go with me to prom," Quince said, hopping up.

"Prom?" Viktor asked. "Jerome just said he learned how to materialize Adette, and you're concerned about_ prom_?"

"What can I say?" Quince shrugged. "I'm only human."

"Aren't the _girls_ supposed to be the ones squealing over prom?" Petra quipped, making the others laugh as they exited the building.

"To me, the real news is Chevalier's construction project," Viktor said. "I don't understand why he'd pick _now_ to renovate the fields."

"We're playing our rival school," Loraine said. "Chevalier wants to flex Kadic's muscles a bit. No big deal."

"Hey, guys!" Jerome said, jogging up to the group. "Did Loraine—"

"Of course Loraine wouldn't deprive of us such big news," Kiyomi said, with a wink. "Does Adette know?"

"Just told her," Jerome said. "So, I was thinking we could go to the factory tonight and—"

"Whoa!" Kiyomi said. "I know I agreed to lodge her at my place for a few days while you and Loraine do the hacking and forging necessary to get her enrolled as boarder, but I need to give my parents notice. I can just show up with her one day and expect them to accommodate."

"I know," Jerome's face fell. "Well, talk to them tonight and find out how soon they can take her in. It'll take Loraine and I at least a week to get done all the paperwork."

"I promise I will bring it up at dinner," Kiyomi agreed. "But for now, I have to get to class!" And she jogged away, leaving them.

C:R

At the end of the school day, the group met by the front gates of the school.

"Do we really need to have a training session on Lyoko tonight?" Jerome asked. "It's pretty much all over."

"Don't see the point," Petra said. "And we'll have time to work on our science reports if we don't go." The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay, then," Jerome nodded. "Call us tonight, Kiyomi, after you ask your parents."

"I will."

"Don't forget," Jerome added.

"I won't," Kiyomi laughed, noticing out of the corner of her eye Loraine frown slightly. "Bye, then." She started on her short walk home, and then Quince turned to the others.

"We should go back to our lockers and get our stuff," Quince said, jabbing his thumb towards Viktor. "We promised to help Champ over here work on his World Lit essay."

C:R

"Mom? Dad?" Kiyomi called, kicking off her shoes as she entered her house. She was greeted by the sound of a harsh argument between her parents.

"Hiromi?" Kiyomi called, and her little brother, a fourth grader too young to addend Kadic, rushed down the stairs. "What did Dad do this time?"

"It was Mom," Hiromi shook his head. "There are new students shadowing at your school, and their father didn't want them in the dorms until they actually start attendance. Their father offered a hefty sum to any family willing to host them."

"And Mom took them up on their offer?"

"Yeah," Hiromi nodded. "And Dad's pretty miffed she didn't ask him about it!"

"Maybe I would have asked him," Kiyomi's mother came rushing into the foyer, "if he actually listened to me every once and awhile! And maybe if things weren't going to poorly at your father's work, we might not need to house these students! Kiyomi, Hiromi, get your coats. We're going out for dinner."

"But, what about Dad—"

"Your Dad's a big boy, Hiromi, he can take care of himself! Now, get your coat!"

C:R

_"I'm sorry, Jerome, but with my parents fighting and with the shadow students in our house, I doubt Adette will be able to stay with me for quite some time."_

"You sure? There's nothing you can do?"

"Mr. Bellamy," the librarian scolded, "this is a cell-free zone."

"I have to go, Kiyomi," Jerome muttered, hanging up.

He sighed, looking across at his friends. "Kiyomi can't lodge Adette. Not for awhile, anyway."

"So, we come up with a plan B," Quince said. "Maybe, until you get her officially enrolled, she can come to earth for little visits. I mean, we'd still have to deal with X.A.N.A, but it's better than nothing."

"Yeah," Jerome sighed.

"What my question is—who are these new kids?" Quince mused.

_"Petra Becker and Viktor Faust, please report to the admin offices for welcome committee duty. Petra Becker and Viktor Faust." _

Both of the students in question looked up after the P.A announcements.

"I'm not even on the welcome committee," Viktor protested.

"Who knows," Petra shrugged, collecting her books and papers. "Looks like your question is about to be answered, though, Quince."

C:R

Adette was seated cross-legged in the tower, intently staring at the small interface screen before her. Jerome had uploaded a few things onto the supercomputer to help her study up on earth, and, after the announcement, she'd become a voracious student. As the data and information splashed before her eyes, she didn't see the ripple in the tower walls behind her.

"Adette," a voice muttered, and she screamed, whipping around. At first, she saw nothing, but then there was a little wave of movement and Ash Winston suddenly appeared, his hand on a little silver band on his wrist. His suit became a stark white and he removed his hood. "It allows me to become visible," he said, taking his hand off the band. Adette stepped back a bit.

"I didn't come to hurt you—not now, anyway," Ash assured, putting a hand up.

Adette whimpered a bit.

"I didn't meant it like that," he muttered.

"It's what it sounded like to me," she shot back, finding her voice.

"I only came here to ask you something while I still can, Adette," Ash reasoned. "What do you remember—about life before Lyoko?"

"Life before Lyoko? For me, there is no such thing. And, for you?"

"I think there was," he said. "But, all I can remember are fragments. Things on earth I was found of, faces, voices, names, addresses. But never the full story. I thought you might—"

"Well, I can't," she muttered, obviously nervous. "You scare me," she whispered.

"I should," he said. "I scare myself."

"What—"

"Does that data interface have information on earth?"

"Yes," Adette said.

"Then look up _The Mysterious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, _by Robert Louis Stevenson," he said. "And know this: X.A.N.A always watches, both you and your friends."

C:R

"Ah, Miss Becker, Mr. Faust," Mr. Chevalier greeted. "I'm glad to see you."

"Uncle Christoff?" Viktor gasped, seeing the tall, pristine man standing with his equally pristine wife and daughters.

"You know them?" Petra whispered.

"He certainly does. I'd like to introduce you to two students seriously considering Kadic Academy, Miss Becker," Mr. Chevalier said. "Claudia and Sieghild Faust."

"Um, hello," Petra muttered.

The oldest (which was Claudia, according to Viktor) had dark brown hair in a high ponytail. She wore a navy blue half-blazer, a ruffled white button-down top, and a navy skirt. She had silver hoop earrings and a designer-label messenger bag slung over her shoulder. The youngest (Sieghild) had her brown hair down, but kept out of her face with a black headband. She had a on a white lacey dress with a black peter-pan color and buttons down the bodice, couple with white tights and black flats. Petra noticed Viktor's younger cousin also had a hearing aid in each ear.

"It's good to see you, Viktor darling," Viktor's aunt said, standing up and placing a cold kiss on her nephew's forehead.

"Um, thanks, Aunt Sabine," he grumbled. "What are you—"

"I was recently promoted," Christoff said. "My new vocation comes with a great deal of travel. Seeing as my wife loves to accompany me on my business ventures, we didn't want our girls' studies to be affected, so we're seeking out a boarding school. We heard that two child prodigies in the worlds of math and science are here—Loraine Guillory and Jerome Bellamy, I believe—so, we decided on Kadic. Our girls will love the academic challenge."

"I'm sure both girls with rise to the occasion, with their records," Mr. Chevalier assured. "And Viktor and Petra would be happy to show the girls around campus."

"Yes," Petra said, trying to relieve the awkward tension in the room.

"Does Dad know about this?" Viktor asked.

"He will when he comes for your soccer match," Christoff assured. "Well, Sabine and I must get back to our hotel. Remember, girls, you are lodging off campus with the Idane family. We'll come by tomorrow evening at dinner to ask about your progress."

"_Ja,_ _Vati_," both girls dutifully chorused.

"_Aufwiedersehen, meine Damen," _Sabine said, kissing both girls on the cheek.

Once the Faust couple left, Mr. Chevalier following them out, the children were left alone.

"So, Viktor," Claudia said, her voice very lofty.

"Um, if you'll follow us," Petra cut in, before the situation could escalate, "we'll give you the official tour!"

As the students shuffled out of the office, Petra's and Viktor's phones buzzed, signaling a text from Jerome.

_'Come to my dorm ASAP. Emergency!'_

C:R

"Well, that's awkward," Quince said, checking his phone.

"What is?" Loraine asked.

"Petra just texted me and said she and Viktor can't come because they're stuck showing Viktor's cousins around school. That means they're staying at Kiyomi's, I assume."

"We'll start without them," Jerome said. "X.A.N.A shorted my computer again."

"Yeah, so?" Quince said.

"So, I lost the materialization program. It burned onto a disk, luckily, but, because of the X.A.N.A assault, I can only use it once. I would redo the program, but I don't know what I pushed to create it."

"There's only one Adette," Quince soothed.

"It just means it's now or never," Jerome said.

"My parents still can't take her, Jerome," Kiyomi said.

"And we're not nearly finished with all the forging," Loraine said. "Our best bet is to wait. Just make sure X.A.N.A doesn't get to the disc, okay?"

_"They're right, Jerome," _Adette said, from the screen. _"I don't mind waiting a little longer. It's alright."_

"Aw, cheer up, buddy," Quince said, draping his arm around Jerome's shoulders. "We'll go the vending machines and buy you a comfort soda and candy bar. You in, girls?"

"Not me," Kiyomi stood up and stretched. "Mom is expecting me back to help with dinner. Sieghild and Claudia will be there," she shuddered a bit.

"May the force be with you, my friend," Quince said.

"Thanks," Kiyomi rolled her eyes. "Goodbye, Adette."

_"Bye," _the digital girl replied.

C:R

After she exited the conversation with Jerome and the others, Adette went back to reading about Jekyll and Hyde. It was apparently a book about a doctor who had a secret evil side that took over. There was also a musical, but Adette didn't think that was Ash's point. Suddenly, the boy's strange behavior earlier made sense. Could Ash be working for X.A.N.A against his will?

A message suddenly blinked on the interface, drawing Adette from her thoughts. _"Go to the forest," _it read.

Adette cocked her head, contemplating whether or not to listen to the message. After Ash's appearance, she wasn't sure if she could trust anyone. Still, it could be a X.A.N.A attack waiting in the sector in question, and it would be important to notify the others.

Clenching her fists, she stood, exiting the safe haven and entering out into the purple-ish terrain of Lyoko's mountain region. She didn't admire the picturesque scenery—the trees growing from the sides of the mountains, the rocks floating in mid-air—as she rushed for the way-tower (a tower of passage between the sectors). Once inside, she dove down into the towers' data stream and let it carry her to the forest.

She was more cautious there, since there was possible X.A.N.A attack, and she slowly skulked in and out of the trees, ready at any second for an ambush of X.A.N.A's creatures. Then didn't come, however, but she started to feel heavy pulsations and followed them to one of the towers, to find a red glow around it. Four blocks were standing guard.

"Jerome," Petra called into the sky. "Jerome?" He'd already logged off, and was away from his computer. Adette sprinted, full-speed, to one of the towers to attempt to contact him until he answered.

C:R

"Claudia, I'm kind of headed off to soccer practice," Viktor muttered, as his older cousin followed him across campus. "Why aren't you heading back to your host family like Sieghild?"

"Because," Claudia said, "I play soccer, too. I want to scope out Kadic's team before I join."

Viktor growled, jamming his hands in his pockets. He was already in a bit of a sour mood after Jerome's announcement via text—they had to come up with a plan B for Adette materialization, and all possible solutions involved X.A.N.A sticking around for at least another week. Now Claudia, his ultimate rival, had chosen to satellite him, which was sure to throw off his performance in football practice.

"You going to follow me into the _locker _room too?" he snapped, once they got to the gym.

"No," Claudia said, "but, honestly, that's no way to treat your cousin."

"Whatever, Claudia," he growled, before heading to change. Just as he went into the boys' locker room, Marci and Kitti emerged from the girls'.

"Hi, new girl!" Marci called, her voice sickly sweet. "Are you lost?"

"No," Claudia said. "I'm waiting for my cousin. He's on the soccer team, and I'm coming to practice with him."

"Who's your cousin?" Kitti asked.

"Viktor Faust," Claudia said.

"Viktor's your cousin?" Marci's eyes got wide. "Would you like to sit with us on the bus to practice? I'm the principal's daughter, Marci Chevalier. And this is Kitti Baldwin."

"I'm Claudia Faust," Claudia replied, standing up.

"How do you feel about the nickname Claudi?" Marci asked as the trio walked out of the gym.

C:R

At the Idane residence, Sieghild was seated in the living room, reading Victor Hugo's _Les Misérables, _full version. She didn't realize she was being watched from the overhead light by X.A.N.A, nor did she realize it had been watching her through the security camera's as she and her sister's toured Kadic's campus. She sat there oblivious to her spy, as X.A.N.A contemplated its move. She turned the page, unaware that a black fog was seeping down from the light. It entered her hearing aid, and she only noticed a slight ringing for a few seconds before it stopped. She went right back to reading without a second thought.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the house, Kiyomi was studying for a French test when her phone went off. "Hello, Jerome?" she answered.

_"Adette just contacted me," _the boy said. _"X.A.N.A has just activated a tower. I tried Viktor, but his phone's off for practice. I need you desperately. How fast can you get to the factory?"_

"I'll head there now," Kiyomi said. "I'll see you in the lab, okay?"

_"Okay."_

C:R

On the cheerleading bus, Marci, "Claudi," and Kitti were sharing the long seat in the back. Two nerdy-looking boys climbed on last second, and slid in the seat just in front of the trio of girls.

"Hey, Marci," one of them—with a bad haircut, zits, and glasses—said.

"Um, why is the geek talking to me?" Marci complained.

"Nicolai, Harry, what are you doing on the _cheer squad's _bus?" Kitti snapped.

"We're trying out for the soccer team next semester," Nicolai ,a dazed looking blonde, said, "and we want to observe a practice. There was not room on the other—"

"Oh my word!" Claudia gasped, hopping up. "Look at the soccer bus!" The large vehicle in question had run off the road an into a tree.

"Stay here," their bus driver ordered, before exiting to talk with Jacque, who had been driving the soccer team's bus. Ignoring the order, Claudia hopped right up and left the bus, approach Jacque in a huff.

"You could have killed everyone in both busses killed," Claudia yelled. "My father will know about this negligence."

"Mine, too," Marceline said, jogging up behind her apparent new friend.

"Lay off, Claudia," Viktor said, jogging up the group. "Why do you even care about Jacque's driving?"

"Because, if I'm really going to join Kadic's soccer team, I want a competent person driving me to practices," Claudia snapped, turning on her heel and storming to back to the other bus. Marci, making a big show of it, followed after.

"Don't worry about her, Jacque," Viktor assured. "Claudia just likes to put up a tough front. She never really acts on her threats. What exactly happened with the bus?"

"I don't know," Jacque replied. "The steering wheel seemed to adopt a mind of its own for a minute. I know that sounds crazy," he said.

Viktor grabbed his phone and saw three missed calls from Jerome, plus a text. _'S.O.S, X.A.N.A.'_

"Not really that crazy at all," he said. "Excuse me for a minute." He walked away, already dialing Jerome's number.

C:R

"Unbelievable," Quince muttered, watching the bulldozers that were meant to be renovating the field tear across campus, driverless. Most of the students were prepping for bed or doing last minute homework in the dorms, so no one was really around to notice but the Warriors.

"This must be X.A.N.A's attack," Loraine said.

"What was your first clue, Sherlock?" Quince snapped.

"I just got off the phone with Viktor," Jerome said, jogging up the group. "The soccer team's bus broke down, and he's suspecting X.A.N.A in on that too. He's cutting practice to get to the factory."

"Good," Quince said, "but the bulldozers are heading to town, dude! Someone has to find out what our viral friend is planning. X.A.N.A's really done it this time."

"You and me can stay," Petra said. "Viktor and Kiyomi are a good combination on Lyoko."

"Well, we better start running, then. If this works out, see you this morning," Quince joked, grabbing Petra's wrist and sprinting off campus.

"Hopefully we won't have to use the return," Jerome said to Loraine. "Let's get to the factory."

C:R

"It's about time you got here—Viktor, I thought you were at practice," Kiyomi said, standing up when Viktor entered the lab.

"X.A.N.A tried to possess me, broke my leg, and it just high-jacked our bus," Viktor explained. "Figured I'd give it a piece of my mind on Lyoko. The others aren't here yet?"

"No, I hope everything's okay—"

The elevator suddenly started to move, bringing with it Loraine and Jerome moments later.

"Where are Petra and Quince?" Viktor asked.

"Helping with the bulldozers," Loraine said, hooking up her laptop to the supercomputer's interface and taking her traditional seat on the floor.

"What bulldozers?"

"The ones Chevalier brought in for his renovation project," Loraine said, typing away. "X.A.N.A sure doesn't miss a step in knowing what's going on at our school. Wonder how it figures it all out."

"Not relevant at the moment," Jerome said, pulling up the virtualization process. "Head to the scanners, guys. Adette's waiting for you on Lyoko."

C:R

"That pathway leads to the factory," Petra said, her hands on her knees as she stopped and watched the bulldozers turn a street corner. "That's X.A.N.A's play. To destroy our means of getting to and from Lyoko."

"Do you think we can stop those things?" Quince asked.

"I don't—"

"Quince?" Nadia yelled, making both Lyoko Warriors' heads snap up.

Quince's love interest was standing outside the local printer's shop, her messenger bag filled to the brim.

"Nad, what are you doing in town?" Quince asked, looking nervously over at Petra.

"Well, the copy machine in the teacher's lounge—the one we use to print the newspaper—broke down, so I came into town to get the paper printed. You?"

"Um—" Quince started.

"We don't have time," Petra whispered

"Well, we can't just leave her—"

"Let's hurry it up, Quince!" Petra yelled, cutting her friend off and tearing off down the street. Petra had to admit she hated being so rude to Nadia, but their situation was serious.

"I'm sorry," Quince said to the non-Warrior, pecking her on the pale cheek before tearing off Petra.

"Hey, wait!" Nadia called, hot in pursuit of the running pair.

C:R

"I'm sorry, Sieghild," Mrs. Idane said, setting two places at the table. "Claudia's at practice, Hiromi's over a friend's house, my husband is at work, and Kiyomi just called and said she's studying with a friend. Looks like it's just you and me."

"That's quite alright, ma'am," Sieghild said, with a smile. "But, you can just call me Skipper. It's easier to pronounce than my 'good German name'."

"I like Sieghild," Mrs. Idane said with a smile.

"Well, I like it too," Sieghild laughed, "but, try hearing someone at Kadic pronounce it. It's quite hilarious, especially with the teachers. I just told them all to call me Skipper to save us all the grief." She frowned a bit, fiddling with her left ear.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs. Idane asked.

"Yes, everything's okay," Sieghild said, offering up a smile of assurance. "It's just my hearing aid. It's been acting up a lot tonight. I think I need to change the battery."

"I don't mean to be causing you problems, Skipper," a little voice whispered in her ear.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything, dearest," Mrs. Idane said.

"Yeah, I definitely need to change to battery," Sieghild sighed. "I have some in my suitcase upstairs. I'll be right back."

C:R

_"Virtualization!"_

Viktor and Kiyomi dropped the from the skies of the forest sector, doing a quick scan of the area.

"Adette? Hello?" Kiyomi called, getting out her fans.

"Right here," Adette poked her head out from behind a tree. "The tower's just a little ways north along this path."

"Lead the way," Viktor said, unsheathing his sword. "We'll be covering you."

C:R

"Oh, no you don't!" Petra called out, grabbing a hold of the front most bulldozer and vaulting herself in the front seat. The vehicle was literally driving itself, and the controls would not budge or stay put for her. It was out of control. From the rearview mirror, she saw Quince pull himself into the bulldozer just behind her, and very ticked Nadia following after him. Sighing, Petra kept her gaze straight ahead, and dialed Jerome's number.

_"Hello," _the genius answered.

"Jerome, this doesn't look good. We think these bulldozers are headed towards the factory. X.A.N.A's going to try to destroy the lab. "

_"Crap," _the genius muttered_. "Well, do what you can to delay them. Viktor and Kiyomi have been transferred to Lyoko and they're en route to the tower now."_

"Yeah, we're doing our best, Jerome, but X.A.N.A's got these monsters under total control," Petra said. "We'll be there soon, but it won't exactly be a graceful entrance."

_"Okay. Thanks for the heads up," _Jerome sighed. _"I'll tell Kiyomi and Viktor to double time it."_

_"Yeah, that's going to be a bit of an issue, Jerome," _Loraine said in the background. _"X.A.N.A's sending a squadron of kankerlats after them."_

_"I've got to go,"_ Jerome said, and then the line went dead.

Petra quickly dialed Quince's number after that exchanged.

_"I can't control it," _Quince said. _"We'd better abandon ship before the demolition derby starts."_

"Alright, I'll get out too," Petra said. "Our best bet is to help on Lyoko so Adette can get to the tower as fast as possible."

"Agreed," Petra nodded, hanging up and tuck-and-rolling out of the vehicle.

C:R

Jerome jumped when he heard a massive rumbling from upstairs, followed by the sound of elevator doors opening.

"Honey, we're home!" Quince said, stepping into the lab. He and Petra were carrying the unconscious form of Nadia Anders between them.

"What happened?" Loraine asked.

"She hit her head on the dismount from the bulldozers," Quince explained vaguely.

Loraine opened her mouth to say something, when a beeping from her laptop cut her off. "Darn. Megatank." She turned back to Quince. "Just set her over there. I've got to take care of this."

"Get to the scans, guys," Jerome said. "They need you in there."

C:R

"Ouch!" Viktor hissed, holding his leg as the kankerlat's laser impacted.

_"Ten life points," _Loraine warned.

"That's it?" Kiyomi said, as her fan sliced through Viktor's adversary, ending its life and finishing off the wave of kankerlats. "Not much of a challenge."

_"Don't get too comfy," _Loraine said. _"There's a megatank on the way."_

"Oh," Kiyomi muttered.

_"Don't worry," _Jerome said. _"Back up's on the way. I'm sending in Petra and Quince."_

A few seconds later, the two other Lyoko Warriors appeared in the sky, ready for action.

"Megatank coming," Viktor said, a hand on his sword. "We need a strategy."

_"Distance weaponry works better," _Loraine offered.

"Then I suggest Kiyomi and Quince get their butts to the front," Viktor said. "Petra and I will cover you."

C:R

"What is X.A.N.A trying to _do?" _Loraine said, as the lab ceiling rumbled, a chunk of concrete falling to the floor and narrowly missing Nadia's conked-out body.

"It looks like he's just making a big mess," Jerome said, catching sight of the security cameras. There was another rumble. Another chunk of ceiling shattered to the floor, this time starling Nadia awake.

"What?" she gasped, suddenly shooting up. "Where I am?"

"Um―" Loraine muttered, turning around.

_"Hey, Einstein! Madame Curie!" _Quince yelled. _"Thanks for the heads-up on the mega-tank's arrival!"_

"Quince?" Nadia gasped. "Is that Quince? Is he―in the computer?"

"You handle them," Loraine sighed, gesturing to the computer. "I'll get her."

C:R

"I'm impressed you know who Marie Curie is, Quince," Kiyomi said, hiding behind the shelter of Petra's shield.

"Eh, we were talking about her today in Madame Hurst's science class," Quince said, standing up and shooting his arrow towards the open megatank. The weapon hit the large ray and then disintegrated.

_"Will you cut the chatter?" _Jerome scolded. _"This is serious business!"_

"Hey, you try taking this thing out!" Petra said, keeping her eye on the megatank as it closed and charged up its laser again. The beam hit her shield with so much force, she was sent back a few feet, but she held her ground.

_"Your shield can't take many more hits, Petra,"_ Jerome warned. _"I'd get out of the way if I were you!" _

"You heard 'em, guys," Petra said, standing up. "One of you has to make a lucky shot on this."

"Here's a joke for you guys. How many Lyoko Warriors does it take to destroy a megatank?" Quince quipped, pumping his arrows.

_"Hopefully one," _Jerome muttered.

"It's opening up," Viktor said, readying his sword to try and block the beam. "Quince take your aim!" He looked over to find Quince staring blankly at nothing. "Quince!" Viktor snapped, unknowingly lowering his sword. Viktor managed to catch the mistake and roll out of the way, but Quince and Petra were taken out by the sudden blast all in a split second.

"Just you and me now," Viktor muttered as Kiyomi helped him up.

"It's a good thing we make a great team," she said, as the megatank charged up again. When the beam was finally fired, they were ready. Viktor's sword was up as a shield and Kiyomi's fan hit the mark in no time flat.

_"Why couldn't you do that in the first place?" _Jerome snapped. _"Things are kind of crazy on our end, and we need Adette to get to the tower ASAP!"_

C:R

"Quince, what was that?" Jerome yelled when Quince and Petra came into the lab. "You completly froze up!"

"Oh, hi, Nadia," Quince said, purposely ignoring Jerome. "Glad you're awake." The girl in question was currently having a hushed discussion with Loraine, but looked dazedly up at Quince when addressed.

"Quince, I'm talking to you!" Jerome snapped.

"I saw Kiyomi falling over the edge in a future flash, alright?" Quince snapped out, turning on his heel to face Jerome. "And I saw in the vision what that meant―lost on a digital network and virtualized forever!"

"Kiyomi―" Jerome said, his voice small.

_"I heard," _the girl on Lyoko said plainly.

C:R

"I could devirtualize you," Viktor offered. "Or Jerome could―"

"No," Kiyomi shook her head. "That would leave you alone to get Adette to the tower, and none of us are good enough for that yet." She took his hand. "We're a team, remember? We need to work like one."

"Jerome, where do we head?" Viktor asked, his throat tight. He didn't take his eyes off of Kiyomi for a second.

_"Thirty degrees north," _came the dazed reply.

Kiyomi shocked Viktor completely by kissing his cheek. "Lead the way," she said.

C:R

_"Jerome," _Adette's voice gasped into the lab, _"X.A.N.A sent another megatank."_

"What? But it didn't appear on my screen! Can you send a visual?"

A window appeared on the screen, showing a megatank right before a steep drop into oblivion.

"Did X.A.N.A manage to glitch our surveillance?" Jerome asked.

Quince numbly shook his head.

"...That's where I saw Kiyomi fall."

C:R

Quince's words rang through the skies of Lyoko, but Kiyomi didn't care. She only kept her eyes on the megatank. It suddenly jolted around, obviously catching sight of Adette as she dove for cover behind a tree―a shelter Kiyomi had a real feeling that would provide little help against X.A.N.A's strongest monster yet. It charged its beam, and Kiyomi, forgetting Quince's vision in the heat of battle, sprang forward to try and knock the monster's beam off course. She apparently but a little to munch power in her jump, because both she and the megatank rolled right over the edge.

Viktor watched in horror as she scrambled for the ledge and missed, and he tried in vain to catch her before she fell. He could only watch her form grow smaller and smaller before it crashed into the sea-like void below. _"No!" _he shouted, pounding his fists on the ground.

"Viktor," Adette said, quietly approaching him.

"Get to the tower. Now," he told her blankly, thankful crying was impossible on Lyoko.

C:R

The lab was quiet after the mission. The bulldozers and Nadia's questions had ceased, and the Warriors were too numb to speak.

"W-what about a return trip?" Quince managed.

"It won't work," Jerome whispered. "I've done research."

_"There is a solution," _Adette said. _"And Jerome knows what it is."_

"The materialization program?" Jerome gasped and Adette nodded. "But―"

"Kiyomi belongs there. With you. I―well, I don't."

"Adette―"

"Jerome, please. I'd never be able to live with myself if I come to earth and now all along my materialization program had the power to free Kiyomi. You found it once, even if it was by accident. So you know it's possible. I can wait."

"Loraine," Jerome said. "I have the disk in my bag. Can you―"

"Yeah," Loraine said, already rummaging. She produced the program seconds later, and before they knew it, the group (sans Jerome, who was running the program) was in the scanner room. Even Nadia, though she wasn't really sure what was happening, was there, with as much nervous anticipation as the others. A scanner door suddenly shut, an electronic whine sounded through the room. No one breathed until the doors hissed open, revealing a very woozy Kiyomi. Viktor rushed forward and caught her as she fell.

"Well," she said weakly, "at least we know Quince's future flash is accurate. H-how am I―Adette gave up her materialization program, didn't she?" The others nodded.

As Nadia watched, she squeezed Quince's hand. "Whatever you have gotten yourself into―it's really dangerous, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Quince sighed. "It is. I'm sorry, but I know what I have to do now. This is my goodbye kiss, even if you won't remember it. It's just―better if you think I'm a jerk who dumped you then for you to know the truth." And his lips met hers as the return to the past engulfed everything.

C:R

Petra found herself back in the office with Viktor's cousins. She heard a sudden shrieking to the left, and saw Sieghild Faust jump back suddenly.

"_Ach du meine güte!_ We did this yesterday..._" _

Petra and Viktor looked at each other before pretending to act totally shocked that anyone would think they had done this yesterday.

"Sieghield?" Christoff said.

"_Wir haben dass gestern getan!" _she insisted, looking around the room.

"I'm sorry, sir," Christoff said, putting his hands on Sieghild's shoulders. "My daughter is very jetlagged."

"It's quite alright. It's only natural."

"I think we'll take her back to our hotel," Sabine Faust said, her German accent far thicker than the others in the room. "Can she receive the tour tomorrow?"

"Of course, Madam."

_"Komm mit mir, meine Dame," _Sabine said, her voice gentle.

_"Aber, Mutti_―" Sieghild protested.

_"Komm. Mit. Mir."_

Soon, everyone was filing out of the office while Sabine was muttering to Christoff about how their "poor little lamb" had "quite lost her mind."

But Viktor and Petra new better. They knew that somehow, someway the return to the past hadn't worked on Sieghild.

C:R

"That was scary," Kiyomi mutters, closing the laptop. "Falling into the digital void. It was the first time I realized that we were―very vulnerable. X.A.N.A didn't even have to be involved for Lyoko to kill us."

Her eyes are dark and far away, so I reach up to put a hand on her shoulder. "But it didn't kill us."

Kiyomi locks her eyes with mine. "Not physically, at least."


	5. Death Notes

**Chapter Breakdown:**

**X.A.N.A attacks from: Killer Music and Attack of the Zombies**

**Foreshadowing of: Teddy Godzilla, Zero Gravity Zone, Rock Bottom **

**Slight nods to: Contact (you'll see) **

Chapter 5-Death Notes

"Look , Auntie Petra! Noelle and I are dancing!"

Amira Della-Penna is skipping about the living room with my child, twirling about to some new song. I am babysitting, as I am the unofficial nanny of the group with my job as a sci-fi writer keeping my workspace and hours flexible, I and brought my daughter along. "Very good, honey," I praise, becoming aware of the first time of what Quince's little girl is listening to. The song is scarily and eerily familiar to me as I look down at the chapter I have been working on.

"Amira, sweetie, why don't you change the song?" I ask.

"Because this is my favorite," she says.

"Honey, please turn it off," I say.

"Why?" Stubborn. Like her father.

"Because it's lunch time," I say, even though it is a half-hour before she is supposed to eat.

"Really?" Amira's eyes grow large at the mention of food._ Just_ like her father. She grabs Noelle's hand and they fly together out of the room, as I shut the music off.

I stare at the radio for a moment, a lump forming in my throat as the phantom melody, now long gone, brings back old memories that I would rather not remember. That is the price I pay, after everything I've seen. After everything we've all seen. X.A.N.A., Lyoko, the supercomputer...we can destroy them thousands of times over, but they will never let us forget. No matter how normal our lives become, how many kids we have, and how many times we try and pretend, as we see, hear, watch, or read anything that has to do with Code Lyoko that it means nothing to us―it'll always be there, haunting us.

Our past experiences, every time one of us was on the brink of death, make sure of that. No matter how hard we try, we've seen, done, and been through far too much to simply forget..

_C:R_

It was well past curfew and Kadic was dark, but there was a huge Science test the next day in every one of Mrs. Hurt's classes and several of the dormitory lights were still on. Viktor Faust and Quince Della-Penna's room was an example of this. Viktor sat on his bed with his school laptop, a scowl on his face as he watched Quince dance stupidly around the room and singing at an obnoxious volume.

"Hey, Quince, knock it off!"

The blonde boy continued to jump around, making Viktor growl.

"You may not care about your grades, but I do! So knock it _off_!"

"You say something, Champ?" Quince said, taking off his earphones.

"I'm going to Jerome's room," Viktor growled, sliding out of the dorm with no further words.

Sushi curiously sniffed at the door. "I don't know what's gotten into him either, my little diggity-dog. He just doesn't understand how awesome this new track is, I guess." Quince shrugged, sliding his headphones back on and continuing to dance and sing.

_C:R_

"Belgium waffles! Ya-_hoo!"_ Quince called, rushing ahead of the group into the cafeteria line.

"Spaz," Viktor said, his voice full of bitterness as he, Loraine, Petra, and Jerome grabbed their trays.

"Is that resentment I hear?" Loraine joked, grabbing a banana and a cup of yogurt.

"He kept Viktor from studying," Jerome said.

"I had to go to Jerome's room to even think about getting anything done!" Viktor grumbled. "I don't know how I live with that oaf!"

"Aw, give Quince a break," Petra said. "I mean, he doesn't really get it sometimes. Maybe he just didn't realize what he was doing."

"Yeah. Whatever," Viktor sighed, grabbing his own plate of waffles. "Let's just get a table, okay?"

Soon, the whole group (including Kiyomi, who had received permission from her mom to come into school for breakfast) was seated around a table and contentedly eating their respective breakfasts without much conversation. Viktor was still sulking, Quince was still listening to his music, and the others were wrapped up in studying for their test later. Viktor suddenly choked on his apple juice, lowering his head and looking like he wanted to disappear.

"What?" Loraine asked, receiving only a groan and a silent point a reply. The group followed his finger and found him pointing at Claudia, who was in line and chatting it up with Kitti and Marci. Sieghild was a few places behind, silently staring at her empty tray.

"Viktor, they're your cousins, not the plague," Kiyomi said. "You can't clam up every time they're near you."

Claudia got out of line with her new "besties" and found a table, while Sieghild shyly made her way out of line with a full tray. She stared at her sister's group first, then looked shyly over at Viktor.

"She looks lonely," Petra observed.

"We should ask her to come sit with us," Quince offered.

"Quince, don't you―" Viktor started

But Loraine was already shouting across the room and wildly flagging the girl down. She looked around for a bit, obviously trying to figured out who Quince was flagging, but she meekly approached the Warrior's table when she realized she was the one being summoned.

"_Hallo_―" she blushed, realizing she was speaking German. "I mean, hello. Sorry. When I get nervous, I―" she shook her head, clearing her throat. "Thank you for letting my sit with you. I'm an Sieghild Faust, but you can call me Skipper."

"I like your nickname, Skip!" Quince said, smiling flirtatiously and extending his hand. As Sieghild accepted the shake, the others looked warily over at Quince. He'd been heartbroken just yesterday about having to break it off with Nadia, but he seemed to have no trouble resuming his flirtatious ways.

_"Hallo!" _Petra said, attempting to break the new-found silence. _"Mein Name ist Petra Becker."_

Sieghild pulled her hand out of Quince's, smiling at the redhead. _"Freut mich, Petra. Sprechen Sie Deustch?"_

_"Ja, natürlich. Ich bin aus München."_

_"Wirklich? Ich bin aus Frankfurt."_

_"Ich- " _

_"Gesundheit," _Quince threw in, making Petra roll her eyes and Sieghild chuckle.

_"Est tut mir leid. _I am sorry," she said. "I don't mean to exclude those of you who do not speak German."

"Sieghild, do I see Claudia waving you over?" Viktor said, nodding towards Marci, Kitti, and Claudia's table, where Viktor's older cousin was flagging her sister down.

"Oh yes," Sieghild said, "I had better go see what she wants. Um, thank you for your hostility."

"She seemed nice," Jerome said after Sieghild had gone.

"Yeah, seriously, Viktor, what happened to your cousins being the reincarnation of the Grady sisters?"

"Why did you call her over, Loraine?" Viktor said, ignoring the others' comments.

"Because the return to the past didn't work on her, and we need to know why," Loraine said. "Like it or not, that means studying her. And studying her means being close to her."

"How do you propose we do that?" Petra asked.

"Well, one of us at this table is living with her, for starters," Loraine said, looking right at Kiyomi.

"Me?" the older girl protested.

"It does make sense," Jerome offered.

"I can't believe you're asking me to spy on her," Kiyomi muttered.

"Well, we are," Quince shrugged. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine," Kiyomi begrudgingly agreed. "I'll have a little talk with her tonight."

_C:R_

As Kiyomi was studying later that evening, she heard a hushed argument in German coming from the room down the hall Sieghild and Claudia. Twirling her highlighter in her hand, she remembered her promise to investigate Sieghild. Sighing, Kiyomi capped her writing utensil and silently crept down the hall to the shadow students' room. She peered through the open crack in the door and saw the two sisters battling in out in intense verbal combat. Claudia was waving a very thick book in front of Sieghild's face, and the younger girl was submissively nodding between angry interjections.

Kiyomi's phone sounded, making both sisters turn to the door, but their spy was gone when they emerged to investigate. "What, Viktor?" Kiyomi demanded, leaning up against her door as she answered her phone.

_"Save me," _he begged from the other line. She heard Quince being obnoxious in the background.

"Viktor, I was in the middle of staking out your cousin. Just―go to Jerome's dorm or something. I have to go." She hung up the phone, and was about to go back down the hallway, when her mother called her name.

"Kiyomi, sweetheart, can you give me a hand?"

"But, Mom, I'm―"

"Young lady!"

"Coming."

_C:R_

"Quince, I've told you ten times already to keep it down! I have practice tomorrow and I need to be well-rested!"

"Aw, you're too uptight," Quince said. "You should give this is listen. This song is written by an anonymous artist, and it's sweeping the internet."

"Would rather not," Viktor grumbled, picking up his pillow and blanket.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"To the room of someone more considerate!"

_C:R_

"Sister, think of what this means for our family's reputation. Mother and Father are ready to check you into an asylum over it," Claudia said. "I mean, you're scarcely above Viktor in talent, and you know how important it is that you be the best."

"I know, Sister," Sieghild sighed.

"How have you found classes at Kadic?"

"Hard," Sieghild whispered.

"Well, if you'd spend more time with the books Father tells you to read instead of snapping those useless photographs, maybe you'd do better in school, yes?"

"Yes," Sieghild whispered.

"You know I only tell you this because I love you, sister," Claudia said. "You know how Father and Mother are."

"I know," Sieghild nodded.

"Father's sent another book for you," Sieghild said. "He expects your report by the time he arrives for the game."

"But that's only a few days away!" she complained. She looked down at the book with a frown. Charles Dickens's _Great Expectations._

"So get reading," Claudia said. "Goodnight, Sister."

_"Don't worry, Skipper," _a voice in her head assured, _"I don't think you're insane."_

"Who are you?" Sieghild asked out loud.

_"A friend, my dear. A friend."_

_C:R_

Kitti let her blonde hair out of its ponytail, flopping down on her bed and logging onto her instant messaging account while she waited for Marci to return from showering. The school had an entire social network for students, but parents and friends that weren't enrolled could also be connected. She found one of her friends from the states online and smiled, typing her a message.

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _Marisa, you're the only one I know up this late.

_Marisa_Daniels_guest KadicIS: _The night is still young, yo!

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _Don't you mean morning? For you at least. What time is it there?

_Marisa_Daniels_guest KadicIS: _Only three

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _Only?

_Marisa_Daniels_guest KadicIS: _Can u blame me? There's this sweet new jam rocking the 'net! It's off the chain, with an unknown artist, and it's free!

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _I'll try to contain my joy!

_Marisa_Daniels_guest KadicIS: _You scoff! But it's epic. Seriously. I'll link ya!

Another chat window popped up.

_**Sandra_Day_guest KadicIS has logged on. **_

_**Sandra_Day_guest KadicIS has sent you a message.**_

_Sandra_Day_guest KadicIS:_ Kitti, you on? I have a lit ? 4 ya.

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _Yeah, Sands. Just give me quick sec, kay?

Kitti clicked on her other window.

_Katrina_Baldwin KadicIS: _I'll have to get back to you, Rissa. One of the off-campus students I tutor just logged on with a problem. I'll be sure to play that music while I'm helping her though!

_Marisa_Daniels_guest KadicIS: _You'd better!

Kitti laughed, clicking on the link and letting the music blare while she helped her friend.

_C:R_

Petra groaned when her alarm went off, and she sat up unwillingly kicking off her maroon, grey, and white plaid comforter.

"Loraine!" she called, noticing her roommate wasn't stirring beneath her blue comforter with baby blue stripes. "Loraine?" No response. "Loraine?!"

"Boo!" the female genius laughed, popping her blonde head out.

"You are terrible," Petra said, grabbing a towel and her red choco-kitty toiletry bag from the drawers under her bed.

"Yeah. Whatever," Loraine said. "I'm going to get dressed and head over to Jerome's dorm! See you at breakfast."

Petra frowned a bit, walking down the hallway towards the showers. Inside, the bathroom was swirling with girls, smelling heavily of hairspray, perfume, toothpaste, and blow dryer heat. On her way into the shower stalls, Petra ran into Kitti.

"Oh, hey! Sorry," Petra apologized, waiting for the popular girl's tyrannical complaint. Nothing. Kitti only stared, nodded, and then blinked.

"Okay?" Petra raised an eyebrow when the other girl skirted away, but brushed the interaction off and started for the showers. Inside, one of the showering girls was playing some new electronic via iPod speakers on the ledge outside her shower, but most everyone else had gone. Petra picked the nearest shower, hung her robe, took off her red and black flannel pajama pants and death note t-shirt and then let the water spring forth from the shower head.

It was cold, but after a few years at Kadic, Petra was used to it. Some people were willing to shower at weird hours for warm water, but not Petra. She just took a full night's rest and learned to adapt. The music faded to the background, and she finished her shower quickly, tying on her robe and heading to the small changing room in the back of the bathroom. iPod girl had moved in there, her speakers sitting right next to her. She was sitting on the bench, fully dressed in the middle of the room, staring blankly at Petra like Kitti had been earlier.

"Hey, are you okay?" Petra asked, setting her bag beside the other girl.

The girl, startled, snapped her head up and nodded, looking dazed. When Petra was finished getting dressed, the girl was still there in the same position and with the same look. Raising an eyebrow, Petra went to get her back and ended up knocking iPod girls' speakers on the floor and breaking them.

"Oh my goodness!" Petra gasped. "I'm so, so sorry!"

"It's okay," the girl said, suddenly hopping up. Her face suddenly showed emotion―the blankness was completely gone from her countenance and a bubbly glow had replaced it. "I have a warranty and that was my back-up anyway." She picked up the broken pieces. "Later, girlie!" And she skipped out of the room.

"Um. Weird, much?" Petra whispered, grabbing her blow-dryer from her bag and headed out towards the mirrors.

_C:R_

"Jerome has a thing for Adette, right?" Petra asked as she and Quince walked into the cafeteria later on that morning.

"Uh. Yeah. Dumb question. Why?" Quince asked, yawning at stretching.

"No reason," Petra shrugged, looking over her shoulder to where Jerome and Loraine were already at the table. Loraine was sitting a little closer to the genius boy than he realized.

"Loraine has a thing for him, doesn't she?"

"What? Why would you say that?" Petra played dumb.

"Well, every girl at this school gives me the look she gives him. I know it well," Quince winked.

"You're a real psychopath, aren't you?"

"I prefer the term creative genius, but whatever."

"Why wasn't Viktor in your dorm when I stopped by?"

"He was a little―miffed at me last night. So, he kind of bunked with someone else."

"Miffed?"

"It's a _long_ story," Quince said. Viktor walked into the cafeteria just then talking with a soccer teammate. Quince looked away sheepishly. "So, let's go to the table now, shall we?"

_C:R_

Viktor really hated World Lit, and he hated days when he had it first period. To make matters worse, Quince was in the seat next to him, hiding a pair of headphones under his hoodie and blasting the same dang song he had been all night. Clenching his jaw, Viktor looked forward and attempted to focus on the teacher, Miss Keller, as she talked about Twain. Yet, Quince's music remained a distraction as the blonde decided to hum along. Viktor angrily tapped his pencil on his desk and kicked Quince in the shin.

"Miss Faust," Miss Keller called, making Viktor's head snap up at the mention of his cousin. "You look a little lost. Is everything okay?"

"Lost?" Sieghild looked like a deer in headlights. "No, ma'am. Not me. I am sorry to be a distraction. Um―may I be excused?"

"Yes, go on," Miss Keller said.

Viktor smiled at the thought of Sieghild―Uncle Christoff's "perfect little gem"―would actually be signaled out by a teacher for being―_spacey._ His enjoyment was short lived, however, for Quince suddenly started shifted uncomfortably, before yelping out in pain and then passing out completely. The class rose into a din, and Miss Keller shouted his name over the uproar, receiving no answers.

"Viktor, you're fast!" Miss Keller turned to him. "Go get Nurse Valentina! Quickly!"

_C:R_

Kiyomi was in the middle of science class when the ambulance's siren rang across campus. Her gaze, intently focused on Claudia Faust, suddenly snapped up. Despite the teacher's warnings, everyone crowded towards the windows. Kiyomi got there just in time to see Quince being loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher. "Mrs. Hurst," she gasped, "I have to go. It's my friend. He―"

"Kiyomi?" the teacher called, but the student had already fled from the classroom.

She got there just as the ambulance drove away, leaving Viktor, Petra, Jerome, Loraine, and Principal Chevalier in its wake. "What happened?" Kiyomi asked through pants.

"His vital signs were abnormal," Viktor muttered.

"I'm phoning your parents now," the administrator said.

"Why, sir?" Petra asked.

"I'm getting permission for you to be with your friend in the hospital," Mr. Chevalier said. "You need to be with him in a time like this."

_C:R_

"It's X.A.N.A for sure," Viktor resolved while the group waited outside the principal's office.

"Impossible," Petra said. "X.A.N.A cannot directly attack humans, can it?"

"No," Jerome shook his head. "At least it wasn't able to. Why would it go through all the trouble to possess hornets when it could have just possessed the groundskeeper directly?"

"Maybe it―learned?" Petra asked.

"You know, it could have nothing to do with X.A.N.A," Kiyomi said. "This could be totally natural."

"Either way," Jerome said, "we should be careful. I'll contact Adette once we get to the hospital."

_C:R_

While Jerome was off with his laptop, the others were alone in the lobby to await news on their friend. Viktor was up and pacing, while the others sat quietly. A girl about their age with brown pigtails walked into the room with headphones on, carrying a cup of coffee. Her face was zombie-like, just as Kitti's had been and she rounded a corner in the direction Jerome had gone. "Uh, guys," Petra said. "I'm going to go check on Jerome, okay?" she hopped up, not waiting for an answer and followed in the stranger's footsteps.

She came to the small supply closet where Jerome had taken his laptop, and found the strange teenager already there. She grabbed Jerome's laptop and threw it against the wall, and was about to make a dive for the genius himself when Petra called out, "Hey!" The other teenager turned around, X.A.N.A's symbol flashing in her eyes.

Quickly thinking, Petra reached up and ripped the headphones off the girl. The XANA-teenager suddenly stumbled back, landing on her rear end. "Ouch!" she whined. "Where am I?"

"Jerome, let's go!" Petra said, grabbing the genius's wrist and sprinting down the hallway. "Guys, let's split!" she called to her friends after running through the lobby. Her follow Warriors hopped up to follow her.

"What just happened?" Jerome demanded, when Petra finally stopped at a crosswalk. The others skidded to a stop right next to them.

"The music," Petra panted. "X.A.N.A's using that weird internet download Quince was so obsessed over to possess people!"

"When the bee stung me―it was the same affects Quince is experiencing, but on a smaller scale! He listened to that song so much―"

"Only Lyoko can save him, then," Loraine said. "We have to get to the lab."

"Wait!" Viktor said. "Sieghild just texted me. _'Something weird is going on at the school. Everyone's walking around like they're cationic. I somehow believe you know what to do.'_"

"You have to go help her, Viktor," Kiyomi said.

"Why? We're going to the factory. That will help her enough!"

"Viktor, she's the only one in the school, according to her account, that's not affected by this! What if she meets the same fate as Quince?"

"Then going to Lyoko will help her, and so will a return to the past."

"We don't know what that can do. Quince is in a hospital, so he has a better chance of making it. But, what if your cousin doesn't live?" Loraine pointed out. "We have to get her in a safe place."

"You mean like the factory?" Viktor asked. "The returns don't affect her memories. They'll be no going back!"

"It's the only way for now, Viktor," Kiyomi said. "Unless you have a better idea?"

"Fine," Viktor sighed, opening up a text to the younger of his two cousins. "I'll help her."

"The rest of us will head to the lab," Jerome said. The group parted ways, running as fast as they could in their respective directions.

_C:R_

"I'll virtualize you directly to the mountain sector," Jerome said, hopping into his chair. Loraine powered up her laptop. "Adette?"

_"Jerome," _the girl appeared on the screen. "What happened?"

"X.A.N.A. Are you in the mountains?"

_"Yes. I'm standing by for back-up."_

_"It's on the way_,_" _Jerome nodded to Petra and Kiyomi.

"Flower power, ladies!" Loraine winked.

"You got it!" Kiyomi winked.

"Just get to the scans," he sighed.

_C:R_

When Viktor got the campus, he thought his head might split. The song that was apparently X.A.N.A's attack was blasting over the school loud speakers, spreading to nearly every facet of the campus. _'Where are you?' _he texted his cousin. Already he could feel himself slipping away, which meant that the attack was getting stronger. He wouldn't need prolonged exposure to be past the point of no return like Quince. His vision was just going blurry when he saw his cousin approach him, just in time for him to collapse. He felt her drag him, half-awake, across campus to the pool house. As the loudspeakers there had been broken for the last month, Viktor felt himself coming back.

Soon, he was struggling to sit up while Sieghild was extending earplugs to him.

"Why didn't the―" he looked at her ears and noticed she wasn't wearing her hearing aids. She wasn't _totally_ deaf without them, but her natural hearing was so poor that it did make sense that the music would have an effect on her.

_'What's going on?' _she asked him in sign language. Luckily, he, along with the rest of the family, had learned to sign when they found out Sieghild had a hearing problem.

_'How'd you know to take out your hearing aids?' _he asked, trying to avoid the question.

_'You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Now answer me, please.'_

_'Only if you answer me.'_

_'Fine.'_

_'Good. Come with me. We'll trade stories on the way.'_

_C:R_

_"Careful, guys," _Loraine warned, _"X.A.N.A's monsters can scale these rocks."_

"We'll be ready," Kiyomi assured, unfolding her fans.

_"Well, that's good," _Loraine said. "Because you've got blocks. Three."

"Alrighty," Petra took out her trident. "Let's see 'em."

Just as she said this, two of the three monsters scuttled up from under the pathway, lasers charging. Petra raised her shield at the ready, covering Kiyomi as the dark-haired girl made the first move. The fan missed, gliding through the air harmlessly and then back to the owner.

"Well, great," Kiyomi sighed. "What would Quince say in this situation?"

"This isn't armature hour?" Petra offered helpfully, then called, "Shadow-Dance!" Kiyomi watched as her friend was suddenly shrouded in shadow. Petra advanced on one of the blocks and took it a bit off guard, then jabbed her trident into the block's eye. While she celebrated her victory, she dropped her cover and was suddenly hit by one of the block's freeze-rays and was frozen solid.

_"You're out for three minutes," _Loraine said, at the same time Jerome yelled, _"How many times is she going to fall for that?"_

_C:R_

With the earplugs in, Viktor lead Sieghild from the pool house, and they ducked behind the shrubbery that lined the entrance. Viktor's eyes scanned the area as his fellow students walked back in forth, looking as if they were in a dream-like state and shuffling around like a bunch of zombies.

'_So,' _Viktor signed, thankful for the silent outlet of communication. _'We just need to figure out how to get from here to the campus park.'_

_'What's there?' _his cousin signaled back.

_'You'll see!'_

He ducked further back into the bushes when one of the students passed, grabbing his cousin's shoulder and brining her back with him.

_'Wait for my signal,' _he signed, holding out his hand. He counted down from five with his fingers, then grabbed her wrist and darted across campus. The zombie-students were not so zombie-like when the two teens passed, the X.A.N.A-minions leapt into action. Marceline Chevalier hopped out in front of them, grabbing Sieghild by the arms.

"The vessel will by mine!" she shouted, not sounding anything like Marci.

"X.A.N.A, you back off of her," Viktor said, nailing the popular girl in the ribs with a powerful kick.

_'You okay?' _he asked Sieghild in sign language. She nodded, and then Viktor grabbed her wrist again, dragging her along towards the factory.

_C:R_

"I'm getting buried out here!" Kiyomi complained, doing a back-handspring to avoid a block. When she came back up, she leapt into the air and caught her fan, keeping her eyes on the block and unfolding her weapon to toss it again. "How much longer till Petra is free?"

_"Another minute,"_ Loraine replied.

_"Hang in there, Kiyomi!" _Jerome soothed. _"Viktor's on the way."_

"He can't come soon enough," Kiyomi said, spinning to narrowly miss another laser. "Yee-_ahh!"_ she shouted, tossing both of her fans. They homed in on the block, slicing it in half on either side.

_"Good job," _Jerome praised.

"Where's the third one?" Kiyomi asked, tucking her fans into her sash.

_"It's not showing up on my screen like earlier," _Loraine said. _"Maybe X.A.N.A called it off?"_

"Um, are you sure about that?"

_"No, but―it did call of its attack randomly with the bees and he groundskeeper."_

"True," Kiyomi muttered.

_"Just keep heading down the path, and cover Adette. But be careful, you never know."_

Kiyomi scanned the area before nodded. "Loud and clear, captain."

_C:R_

_'What is this place?_' Sieghild asked when she and Viktor got in the elevator.

_'Patience. Okay?'_

The elevator opened, and he gestured for her to walk out into the lab. She blinked rapidly when she saw all the equipment, and Loraine hopped up off the chair.

"I got this," the genius girl said, as he had become the designated Warrior for newcomer orientation. "Hi, Sieghild."

"She can't hear you," Viktor said.

"I read lips, you know," Sieghild rolled her eyes. She smiled at Loraine. "Hi. Just―talk slowly, okay?"

"Get to the scans," Jerome called to Viktor. "They need you in there."

_C:R_

Petra unfroze just in time to see Viktor drop down from the skies. "Where's Kiyomi?" the male Warrior asked, a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Further up the path with Adette," Petra said. "They took care of the monsters so―"

_"You spoke too soon, Petra," _Jerome said. _"Jerome just blocked the girls' path with two krabs, so get moving. And, Petra?"_

"Yes?"

_"You're down to sixty life points. Proceed with caution." _

"You got it," Petra said.

"Super-Sprint!" Viktor shouted, leaving poor Petra in the dust.

"Two can play that game," she declared. "Shadow-Call."

The henna tattoos flew off her arm, forming the shadowy outline of a horse. It reared as if to whinny, but no sound came from its throat. It bowed before Petra, allowing the Lyoko Warrior to climb on. Petra mounted up, heeling the digital animal into a gallop and taking off after Viktor.

_C:R_

_"Jerome! Kiyomi just got devirtualized!"_ Adette's panicked voice rang through the lab. Loraine looked up for a moment, but, seeing Jerome had control over the situation for the time being, she focused on Sieghild again.

"Viktor, that was another hit you just took!" Jerome growled in a background.

"A virtual world? Inside a supercomputer?" the Faust girl murmured. She wanted to doubt herself, but she saw with her own eyes what Jerome was working on. She couldn't deny it.

Loraine just nodded as Kiyomi came back to the lab. She half-smiled at Sieghild in a failed attempt to be comforting.

"Petra!" Jerome warned. "That's forty more life points! You have a shield, _use_ it!"

_"Roger that, Einstein," _Petra's voice came through the computer, a plan behind her tone.

_C:R_

"Hey, Vik!" Petra called, holding up her shield. Catching the hint, the boy jumped up on the white metal and then used it as a springboard to get onto of the leftmost krab.

"Impact!" he yelled, driving his saber into the eye of X.A.N.A on the creature's back.

As the krab exploded, the second one avenged its buddy by shooting an unguarded Petra in the ribs. She toppled over, devirtualizing in a matter of seconds. Viktor got to his feet immediately, staring down the krab. "Triangulate!" he declared, running quickly in a triangle motion around the monster. Soon, there were three Viktor's for the monster to face off with. It fired it laser at one, and the double was instantly taken out. But, the ploy worked anyway. Viktor slid under the krab, slicing its underside. The monster's life was instantly over.

"Adette," Viktor called out as he stood. "You can―" but he was suddenly hit from behind and devirtualized.

_C:R_

"Well," Loraine sighed when Viktor climbed back into the lab, "at least you found that third block."

"Yeah, well now there's no one to―" Jerome started, cut off when a window appeared on his computer, blasting X.A.N.A's song in the lab. Everybody put their hands over their ears, the song instantly taking a toll on them. Everyone, of course, but Sieghild.

"Sieghild!" Kiyomi said, her head screaming. "She's the only one who can go! And the only one the music doesn't bother!"

Sieghild looked around as if there were another in the room that bore her name. When she realized she was the object of discussion, she rapidly shook her head.

_'She's right,' _Viktor signed before saying out loud, "Jerome, run the scan!"

_C:R_

Sieghild landed right on her backside when she arrived in the virtual world, but she quickly hopped to her feet as she examined herself. She had on a white, knee-lengthed dress with a high collar, long sleeves, and a black zipper down the front of the bodice. She had on a thick black belt, with a silver rod attached to it. Reaching up to feel her ears, she felt a pair of headphones, and, out of curiosity, reached up to remove them. She shrieked at the sudden rush of sound the descended upon her eardrums. Every minute noise was razor sharp in her ears. She put the headphones back on, her hearing returning to normal level. Then, she took her rod from her belt and it snapped out into a full-lengthed staff. There was a switch that said, "_Stun. Sound wave. Blade."_

The remaining block popped from beside her, close to the edge and, fast on her feet, she set her staff to stun. A flash of light shot from the weapon, starting the monster over the edge.

"Well done," Adette poked out from behind her hiding spot. "I'm Adette."

"Skipper," Sieghild said.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Adette smiled. "I'm going to head for the tower now."

_C:R_

After the return to the past, the Warriors held a meeting in Jerome's dorm to see if they should allow Sieghild to continue on as an official Warrior.

"She was great to have in a pinch," Loraine shrugged. "And she seemed to pick up quickly on what was happening."

"I still don't like it," Viktor muttered. "I mean, she's already my amazing cousin. Now she'll be saving the world?"

"No is not the time to be considering family rivalries, Viktor," Jerome scolded. "The point is, when it comes to X.A.N.A., we need all the help possible."

"But―my _cousin_?"

"The return to the past already doesn't work on her, for whatever reason," Quince threw in. "And, if it wouldn't have been for her―I'd probably be dead."

"We vote, then," Jerome said. "Majority rules. All for?" Everyone but Viktor raised a hand. "Then, Kiyomi, bring her in. We have a new Warrior to debrief."

_C:R_

Later than night, Sieghild couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning, thinking about all she'd learned about her cousin and his friends. And now she was one of them. Sighing, she turned over again, staring at the rotating fan on the ceiling.

_"Skipper," _the voice―the one that had warned her about the music and told her to contact Viktor―said inside her head. _"If you want to know more about who I am go to this address and look in the living room bookshelf. Third row. I'll give you directions as you go."_

Sieghild gasped, shooting up and looking about the room. Claudia was fast asleep. Grabbing her shoes, her coat, and a flashlight, she slipped out of the room and followed the voices instructions as it lead her off campus, through town, and then into a forest_. "Here,"_ the voice said, and she finally stopped in a clearing with an old abandoned house.

She shined her light on the gate and found a sign that said, _"Hermitage."_

_C:R_

"Momma?" Noelle rushes back into the room, pulling me out of my own memories. "Are you coming, Momma?"

"Yes, dear," I smile. "Lead the way."

When I get into the kitchen, I see Quince's daughter and am reminded of how we almost lost him. I try not to be overcome as I smile at the two little girls and help them prepare their lunches.

**Shorter than the rest of my chapters, but eh. Free time? What's that? **

**Hope you enjoyed! Drop a review, if you wish!**


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